Its Not All Rosey At Delta.... From the USA Today

[rjcap]

What Delta won't tell you, however, is that it is currently the least-reliable, most-delayed, most-likely-to-lose-your-luggage carrier in the nation. If you are forced to fly Delta a lot, you probably already know all that. But if you don't have to fly Delta frequently, you may have missed some of the chilling specifics of the carrier's operational morass. According to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report released by the Department of Transportation (DOT) last week, Delta and its commuter vassals are now at the bottom of the on-time, cancelled-flights and lost-bag ratings.


vassal - a subordinate, servant, slave etc.


You just have to like this guy !!!

 

[jetpig32]

The DCI ramp in JFK is the most hideous operation i have seen. 30 minute turn times built in to the schedules. Takes that long to just get a frekin wheel chair. 1 hr to get the time of day.

 

["GO AROUND"]

It is hard to control ASA rampers that lose luggage. Ontime arrivals and departures from JFK are low sometimes too, ask Jetblue. But, we have had HISTORIC INTL expansion this year, and recorded our first profitable quarter in a long time last quarter. Things are trending upward.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General,

90% of the bags that get blamed on ASA are the fault of DAL!! Out of 10 flights out of ATL, 7 of those flights I will have a DAL tug pull up just before pushing or after with late bags. And you know our on time rate so it's not like we are leaving early and they are missing us. They are late and we get blamed for the lost bag. Not to mention that DAL gives ASA one pier of the 20 or so handle all the bags that ASA gets.

ASA rampers are not the root of the problem. I've talked to frequent fliers and ASA doesn't lose bags that start in ATL. But if they connect from a mainline flt to a ASA flt in ATL they lose their bags 50% of the time. Put some blame on your rampers that work one flt a gate as opposed to 3 flts per gate for ASA.

ASA rampers are not perfect, but they do the best with what DAL gives them and our managment doesn't give them.

 

[Homer Jay]

Hey, I love being based in JFK. I make an average of 15 hours extra each month as a result of Delta's poor flight scheduling in the Northeast. I have to be honest though, I am ABSOLUTELY embarassed by the level of service that paying passengers are receiving. Who ever came up with the new DCI ramp and boarding area should be fired!

 

[DAL737FO]

2) Parker has said no furloughs. If you don't believe him, look at the AAA/HP merger and you will see there were no furloughs despite being significantly overstaffed. I should know, as I am on the very bottom of the HP list.

I'm looking at the AAA/HP merger and the one thing that really sticks out is that you haven't merged yet. So how could you furlough? Who is senior and who is junior? Not saying that there are going to be furloughs but it would be real hard to furlough without an approved combined list. It will be real interesting next spring once the arbitrator rules on the integration.

 

[CAL EWR B737]

You know,

Slinging tomatoes at each other will prove nothing in the end. This deal will happen, or not happen, based on forces that are completely out of our control. Passing out buttons and posting on web boards will prove to be a futile effort that does nothing but erode the unity we need as pilots to achieve the best industry contract.

One thing is for certain if this deal goes through: the minute Doug Parker approaches the pilot groups about a combined contract is the minute Alpa should place UPS's or FEDEx's contract on the table. Certainly the profits that this combined entity would achieve warrants, at the very least, this type of compensation.

Here's my point: the sooner we can get over our airline egos, the sooner we will be able restore this profession to what it once was.

United we win, divided we fall.. Happy Thanksgiving.

Excellent post I agree 100% As a CAL pilot for almost twenty years I've seen CAL go from the lowest tier major to one of the better ones. In this business your on top one day on the bottom the next. Lets as profession and union brothers fight the common enemy management and bring our profession back to the levels of yesteryear.

 

[General Lee]

I'm just curious, why don't you want this deal to go through? Is it the stigma that comes with being "acquired?"

Seriously, I'm not trying to flame, I'm just curious why you think this deal is so bad.

As I see this, here are the facts that we know so far:

1) The Delta brand will be the surviving entity. Good for you, crappy for me.

2) Parker has said no furloughs. If you don't believe him, look at the AAA/HP merger and you will see there were no furloughs despite being significantly overstaffed. I should know, as I am on the very bottom of the HP list.

3) If this deal goes through, which there are certainly many hurdles, the revenue/profit potential is huge. This, intern, equates to greater stability should there ever be another terrorist event. As well, this also positions the surviving company on a level playing field when it comes to the forces of globalization/open skies/foreign ownership. Who would you rather be bought by: US Airways with a solid US management team, or Air France? Better yet, how about Emirates?

4) Instead of posting 50 to 100 million dollar quarterly profits, this airline (and this is my opinion) will be posting 500 to 700 million dollar quarterly profits. Which profit margin will yield a better contract?

Again, these are the positives, and certainly there are many negatives. However, given the current economic, socio economic, and political climates US airlines currently find themselves in, I think this deal is something worthy of consideration.

Severe route overlap, fleet complexity, and employee integration problems. They promised to work with the pilots from US and AWA, and management has yet to resolve anything. 600 pilots just picketed in PHL and PHX. Not a good place to be. Parker is more interested in his personal ambitions. Just because Citigroup writes Parker an $8 billion check, doesn't make it a good deal.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jetfo]

All this negativity General. Just take your right seat and pull my gear when I call for it ;-)

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

You know what, I think Linecheck has some really great points especially the UPS/FedEX contract part.

Time will tell....

 

[linecheck]

Severe route overlap, fleet complexity, and employee integration problems. They promised to work with the pilots from US and AWA, and management has yet to resolve anything. 600 pilots just picketed in PHL and PHX. Not a good place to be. Parker is more interested in his personal ambitions. Just because Citigroup writes Parker an $8 billion check, doesn't make it a good deal.

Bye Bye--General Lee

General,

You're right that 600 pilots picketing is not a good thing when you're trying to create a new airline. I was there, and the display of resolve was impressive.

That said, if this deal goes through (which I believe it will in some way shape or form) the first thing we as Alpa members need to do is put our differences aside and work together to achieve a single combined contract that relfects UPS/Fedex's wages and work rules. Certainly, the revenue this combined airline will generate will give us the negotiating capital to achieve this.

Parker is a very strategic, well calculated CEO. He did his homework when he announced this, and in my view, knew exactly how the markets and the groups would react. Posting sweeping generalizations on Flightinfo is not going to stop this deal from happening..