NWA/DAL Pilot deal done

[Eagle757shark]

UPDATE 1-Northwest, Delta pilots plan uncertain-source

Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:46pm EST
(Recasts, adds background)
CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Leaders of the union representing pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have a plan for combining the two work groups should their companies merge, a press report said on Tuesday, but a source familiar with the talks said the report was premature.
Although the source called inaccurate the Detroit News account that pilots had reached an agreement on how to merge seniority lists, speculation intensified that senior executives at the two airlines were closing in on a merger proposal that could be presented to their respective boards this week.
A deal "possibly will happen" in the next two days, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Delta and Northwest, industry sources have said, would prefer to offer a plan supported by labor, especially pilots, and have given those two unions time over the past two weeks to work out an agreement for combining their units. Both are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
The union represents 11,000 pilots at both carriers and each group has promised no consolidation without their input. Pilots also have said they would not be rushed into any agreement.
In addition to hammering out seniority, which is crucial to nearly every pilot's career, pilots also want equity in the combined company and other sweeteners to offset some concessions unions that made during bankruptcies at both airlines. (Reporting by Kyle Peterson, with additional reporting by John Crawley in Washington and and Jui Chakravorty Das in New York)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and

 

[~~~^~~~]

UPDATE 1-Northwest, Delta pilots plan uncertain-source

Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:46pm EST
(Recasts, adds background)
CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Leaders of the union representing pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have a plan for combining the two work groups should their companies merge, a press report said on Tuesday, but a source familiar with the talks said the report was premature.

Thanks! The report should have read:

Leaders of the union representing pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have a plan for combining the two work groups should their companies merge, but it sure isn't the same plan.

At least there are not reports of pilot representatives in local hospitals with blunt force trauma and gunshot wounds.

Just kidding around. I'm impressed with the maturity of those involved and the manner in which they are trying to make this a positive event for the pilots they represent.

 

[Bavarian Chef]

Does the "when" really matter in this case?

A) it's gonna happen.
2) some pilot isn't gonna like it.
D) managers are gonna make a lot of money.

 

[IXLR8]

I havent heard anything lately from the other unions at NWA...as important as it is to have the pilots OK, I believe it is the interest of all the employees to have a word in this.

 

[filejw]

I agree...

But consider that all indicators are the new airline will be called Delta and HQ in ATL. That being the case, does anyone think NWA will continue to hire pilots independently?

If the goal is to consolidate operations, I'd think that the new Company would want one hiring, indoc and training program as quickly as they could get it up and running.

Some have posted that NWA is current on all of its' interviews and is taking a break until June. If this happens this week, NWA may be very close to interviewing its last pilot, ever. Just my guess that the surviving Company is going to be the surviving operations specification which will drive common training, etc....

Anyone been through this that has some insight?

In the last 3 mergers I've been part of that wasn't the case.

 

[Eagle757shark]

Delta CEO tells US senator no merger deal yet

Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:39pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Delta Air Lines told a U.S. senator on Tuesday there is no merger agreement yet with Northwest Airlines, but the two sides are continuing to work toward a deal.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told Reuters in an interview that she spoke with Richard Anderson earlier in the day and he told her the airlines continue to work with their pilots on getting union support for consolidation.
Klobuchar said the Delta CEO did not have a specific time frame for a deal, but one source briefed on the matter told Reuters earlier that an announcement was possible within the next day or two.
The airlines have refused to comment substantively on merger discussions. Delta would not comment on reports that the boards of both carriers were scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
In a letter to Klobuchar, Anderson and Northwest chief executive Doug Steenland discussed their vision of consolidation in attempt to reassure lawmakers concerned about possible service cuts and job losses.
The executives said they favor any merger that would offer greater efficiency and service improvements, not job cuts or contraction of routes or hubs.
"Any merger we might contemplate would be a transaction that succeeds through the power of addition, not subtraction," the two wrote on February 8.
"Benefits would be achieved through service improvements and greater efficiency, not by fare increases, schedule reductions or layoffs," Anderson and Steenland said.
The letter released by Klobuchar's office on Tuesday.
(Reporting by John Crawley, with additional reporting by Kyle Peterson in Chicago and Jui Chakravorty Das in New York. editing by Gunna Dickson)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

 

[~~~^~~~]

In the last 3 mergers I've been part of that wasn't the case.

Meaning NWA will stop hiring in the near future, or that they will continue?

 

[General Lee]

It means General Lee will be flying a Crj 200 and if he's lucky an E170.

Man are you wrong!

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Diesel-9]

Delta is not buying NWA or anyone. If it goes will be a stock swap. DAL has $4.0 Billion debt due now through 2011, NWA $1.9. DAL has $1.0 Billion LESS cash on hand than NWA. DAL CASM is 10% higher than NWA. NWA Cash/Monthly Expense ratio over twice as good as DAL, 3.2 to 1.5 and NWA operating margin is almost 60% higher than DAL. NWA pretax margin is 139% higher than DAL. NWA had the highest operating margins in the industry in 2007. NWA gets 12% revenue from RJ's while DAL is 25%/expensive. DAL needs a merger/help before end of 2009 or gets tight on cash again. Over the next 20 years the Pacific Region will have over twice the growth rate of any other region. DAL Pacific operation is 0.2% of their overall ops. NWA has 10% of their operations in Asia. Who really needs who? p.s. Heard the equity is 7% but the pilots are FAR apart on seniority integration. Bet it will go to arbitration.

Found this on a finance web site. Numbers appear to come right out of the ALPA NWA/DAL Merger analysis.

 

[3ds]

UPDATE 1-Northwest, Delta pilots plan uncertain-source

Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:46pm EST
(Recasts, adds background)
CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Leaders of the union representing pilots at Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have a plan for combining the two work groups should their companies merge, a press report said on Tuesday, but a source familiar with the talks said the report was premature.
Although the source called inaccurate the Detroit News account that pilots had reached an agreement on how to merge seniority lists, speculation intensified that senior executives at the two airlines were closing in on a merger proposal that could be presented to their respective boards this week.
A deal "possibly will happen" in the next two days, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Delta and Northwest, industry sources have said, would prefer to offer a plan supported by labor, especially pilots, and have given those two unions time over the past two weeks to work out an agreement for combining their units. Both are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
The union represents 11,000 pilots at both carriers and each group has promised no consolidation without their input. Pilots also have said they would not be rushed into any agreement.
In addition to hammering out seniority, which is crucial to nearly every pilot's career, pilots also want equity in the combined company and other sweeteners to offset some concessions unions that made during bankruptcies at both airlines. (Reporting by Kyle Peterson, with additional reporting by John Crawley in Washington and and Jui Chakravorty Das in New York)

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and

looks like someone in the media just got schooled by some pilots. hope they're keeping track of whom to 'trust'.