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General Lee will work until he is 75, at Kmart

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First, I don't like the title of this thread but I'm going to post anyway...


Delta alerts pilots to falling cash reserves
Saturday August 20, 10:33 am ET

In 2004, Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL - News) and its pilots struck a $1 billion wage concession deal to help Delta avoid filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection....

Delta reported Aug. 15 plans to add liquidity by selling its wholly owned regional airline subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines Inc. (ASA) to SkyWest Inc. for $425 million in cash. Despite the deal, Delta expects its cash reserves "will decline substantially during the remainder of 2005."

Unrestricted cash totaled $1.7 billion at the end of the second quarter, but is expected to decline substantially over the remainder of the year. In its most recent quarterly filing, Delta said its debt and capital lease obligations totaled $14.1 billion on June 30, compared with $6 billion on Dec. 31, 2000. However, Delta has significant obligations due in the six months ending Dec. 31 and after. The airline estimates its aggregate obligations during that period will be about $2 billion for operating lease obligations, interest payments, debt maturities, capital expenditures and pension plan funding.

It's going to be hard to continue to support buy/leases of new aircraft at Delta. IMHO, Delta needs to get out of these contracts. These can be replaced with EMB 190 contracts coming out of BK. Whatever happens it will be on the backs of the pilots still at Delta. Many who didn't give a hoot about anyone but themselves have left the building. How many have left since 2002? I figure at least 3,000 bubbas.
 
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I Agree with 30-50 retard and with seefive only a moron, needle d%ck like Freddie will be happy to see other collegues going thru tough times. I wish all in DAL, UAL,USA better tailwinds. hang in there.... this industry will recover.
 
fifty30retard said:
On behalf of JetBlue employees I would like to apoligize for Flying Freddie. With oil prices heading north his wallet may soon be red too. Best of luck to all.


MEGA DITTO!

somebody needs a blanket party!
 
fifty30retard said:
On behalf of JetBlue employees I would like to apoligize for Flying Freddie. With oil prices heading north his wallet may soon be red too. Best of luck to all.
I was listening to WBBM on the ADF last night while returning to the home base. They were airing their financial news and an analyst said, "We're heading for double dip inflation" whatever that means.

I'm ready for some good news for a change.
 
"My pocket book is blue, JetBlue. His is red, bleeding red."



Well, My pockets used to be green, after our union got a contract we ALL(all pilots) deserved. (back when we thought Delta could afford it). Then, our company lost $10 billion in 5 years. How could that happen? Was it our fault alone? Sure, we kept the high paying contract for a long time, but the Leo Mullin SERP offshore bank account thing didn't help. Selling the fuel hedges really didn't help either. Miscalculating whether or not USAir would stay around also didn't help. But, I can't go back and change it single handedly. It looks like I will get another pay cut in the near future. That is the way it is. I hope Flying Freddie only has positive things happen in his career. I have watched good friends get furloughed, and have had one large pay cut with more to follow. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
General,

Best of luck to you and your company!

Our industry is not like it used to be. In fact, what industry is besides the like of Energy? Even with future concessions, pilot pay at Delta and other Majors is still not a bad paycheck. What is the percentage of people in the US that make over $100,000, nonetheless over $150,000? We all have to be smart about our money and create our own retirement. The sign of the times.
 
FlyBoeingJets said:





Many who didn't give a hoot about anyone but themselves have left the building.

FBJ,

As one of those who "...have left the building.", I would only have one question to ask you: If I were to stay another 4 years and lose my lump sum, would you be willing to provide for me, my wife, and the daughter I just took off to college for the rest of our lives...or is that MY job by making decisions in the best interest of my family ?
 
Godvek said:
Even with future concessions, pilot pay at Delta and other Majors is still not a bad paycheck. What is the percentage of people in the US that make over $100,000, nonetheless over $150,000? We all have to be smart about our money and create our own retirement. The sign of the times.



I have to respectfully disagree with you. 100K is not a good pay check given the experiance and education most major airline pilots have. Think about it, pick almost any other profession which requires a college degree and significant professional training. How much are they making ten or twenty years down the road? My wife is in HR for a large company, about 10 years experiance now, and she's pushing 100K. My brother in law is an accountant for a large firm. He's about 12 years in and making 200K plus. Many of my buddies from college are now making that and more. A neighbor is a pharmisist, he makes about 150K. Another neighbor is a mortgage broker. Granted interest rates have helped but he's making more than I do. Sorry, there is nothing special about a 100,000$ salary, not for college educated professionals.

Now, do we have to be smart about our money, yes. Do I need to fund my own retirement, sure. Were some of the old work rules and pensions at major airlines unsustainable, you bet. But don't for a minute think that 100K a year is special.
 
michael707767 said:
I have to respectfully disagree with you. 100K is not a good pay check given the experiance and education most major airline pilots have. Think about it, pick almost any other profession which requires a college degree and significant professional training. How much are they making ten or twenty years down the road? My wife is in HR for a large company, about 10 years experiance now, and she's pushing 100K. My brother in law is an accountant for a large firm. He's about 12 years in and making 200K plus. Many of my buddies from college are now making that and more. A neighbor is a pharmisist, he makes about 150K. Another neighbor is a mortgage broker. Granted interest rates have helped but he's making more than I do. Sorry, there is nothing special about a 100,000$ salary, not for college educated professionals.

Now, do we have to be smart about our money, yes. Do I need to fund my own retirement, sure. Were some of the old work rules and pensions at major airlines unsustainable, you bet. But don't for a minute think that 100K a year is special.

A college degree does not mean anything like it used to in all sectors of employment. Going to the governments website regarding compensation, the national mean average annual wage (in 2003) was $32,951. The mean average wage for pilots (#1 on the list by profession) was $114,576. I'm not trying to say concessions from pilots is a great thing, but even with them we are still doing ok compared to the majority of Americans (with or without degrees).

Of course there are pockets where you can make lots of money. You can go to the old saying that if all the money in the US was evenly divided between everyone in the country, the people who were previously wealthier would slowly rise back to the top. It is a great idea for a pilot to have a second source of income, and a plan-b for a possible furlough, loss of medical, etc. Like I said you have to be smart. As an example, everyone could have made as much or more money in real estate over the past 3 years as their airline W-2. Be creative!
 

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