NWA says it will cut flights, ground planes

[123]

Just found this... sounds like NWA still training through June. No furloughs mentioned. This sounds better.

Actually, the we are still on schedule to hold the new-hire classes in April (2 I believe) and all positions will be the 747 FE. Others that have been offered a position will be put into a pool. Those who start training in April, should be completed and on-line sometime in June.

 

[Quack]

The reductions are in addition to the 2008 fleet plan.

How many were in the 2008 fleet reduction? As i understand it, add 15-20 on top of that

 

[Jimmy C. Corn]

any word on how this, coupled with age 60+ guys staying (when they were supposedly leaving promptly at 60), will affect "career expectations" with the arbitrator come merger time?

I would think this would have some impact on negotiating positions.

please don't resort to claims about the as-yet unpowered 787....

 

[123]

How many were in the 2008 fleet reduction? As i understand it, add 15-20 on top of that

Not sure, I just took the quote out of the press release. I am not sure which 2008 fleet plan it was refering to (a, b, or c...actually, I would guess we are on fleet plan zzzz.8889098, for as often as it changes with our economy).

My guess is that Occam has better intel.

 

[dtfl]

Super92,

My understanding is that these are additional and this number is smaller than the number I heard NWA came to the table with. It is likely a highly dynamic situation.

Hopefully NWA is still so understaffed from the bankruptcy staffing levels that getting the fleet adjusted will not result in any surplus staffing.

Furloughs at either airline right after folks got hired, suck.

Delta's still going to run another 100 or so new hires through May, I hope

As others have pointed out, September is off in the distance, things could change for the better.

A total of 100 with April and May classes for a seniority list max # of 7420 FYI

 

[Occam's Razor]

The actual plan is based on a ASM reduction against the original '08 plan. The aircraft that will be parked are "planned" for June...and September.

Other events will take place prior to September, to be announced well before June.

It'll all be OBE.

 

[WSurf]

http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2008/03/31/daily38.html?ana=yfcpc

NWA says it will cut flights, ground planes

Northwest Airlines Corp. said Thursday that it would reduce its domestic flight schedule later this year and cut its fleet by 15 to 20 planes as a result of rising oil prices.
The moves, in addition with recent steps such adding fuel surcharges and reducing the number of bags that may be checked at no charge, are intended to help offset the rising price of oil.
"Over the past several months, the price of oil has risen dramatically to all time highs and there is no reasonable basis to conclude that oil prices will materially decline anytime soon," said CEO Douglas Steenland. "These increased costs are significant and call for a strong response from us."
The airline also said that it will reduce non-aircraft capital expenditures for 2008 by approximately $100 million and seek to improve profits by $100 million annually through cost reductions, productivity improvements and revenue enhancement.

As a previous poster stated, this boom was over before it even started!
737

Plyt,

I guess this is when MJ42 comes on and tells me how clueless I am about fuel rising and parking DC9's at a faster rate. Damn, To bad I don't have common sense!

 

[FmrFreightDog]

It'll all be OBE.

OBE???

 

[Draginass]

overcome by events

 

[ACL65PILOT]

Here we go. I bet things get hot in the next week between NWA and DL.....

 

[ACL65PILOT]

2 days of meetings at the dal g.o. managers meetings going on

FWIW

Just got this from a "good" buddy of mine

 

[clippyrip]

I am curious to see what comes from that meeting...

 

[USCtrojan]

Hot off the Press....

Cash Cushion Helps Big Airlines, for Now

AP
Posted: 2008-04-03 19:00:19
AP Photo CAPS102

By JOSHUA FREED

AP Business Writer

A slowing economy and high fuel prices appear to have killed off tiny ATA Airlines, Aloha Airlines, and Champion Air. A big pile of cash will keep the big airiring new pilots and fly 5 percent less than planned this fall because of high fuel prices. The carrier pointed out that its $3 billion in cash works out to 24 percent of its 2007 revenue. "We are pro-actively making those decisions now to maximize our liquidity position," President and Chief Executive Doug Steenland said in a written statement.

Northwest also said it would remove an additional 15 to 20 planes from service this year, including about 10 DC-9s. Those aging aircraft are financially easier cheaper to park because they're paid for.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd said larger airlines such as Northwest and United can weather high fuel prices better because more of their fleet is already paid for.

"From that perspective, what happened with ATA is not a harbinger of things to come in the rest of the industry," he said. "Most big carriers have parts of their fleet they can park very cheaply."

Airline consultant Robert Mann said the collapse of ATA shows it's becoming harder than ever for carriers to secure adequate financing, even from nontraditional sources such as hedge funds.

"You really see that the airlines have the cash on their balance sheets, and that's it," he said. "When they're out of that, there may be no replacing it."

AP Business Writers Adam Schreck in New York and Tom Murphy in Indianapolis

 

[~~~^~~~]

A total of 100 with April and May classes for a seniority list max # of 7420 FYI

Thanks, I was just trying to figure that out.

 

[~~~^~~~]

"You really see that the airlines have the cash on their balance sheets, and that's it," he said. "When they're out of that, there may be no replacing it."

This fact, combined with the new bankruptcy code, means liquidation is nearly an inevitable result of bankruptcy.

Admittedly that having DAL/NWA as the World's largest has some appeal - at least from the angle of it being too big for the government to allow to fail.

Jeesh - and just a few months ago we were explaining that DAL/NWA's profits would exceed FedEx's.

Unfortunately unless we fix scope and concentrate on both the top and the bottom end of our flying a DAL/NWA combo is likely to lead to furloughs. Wish that we had done this deal with the job protections - maybe we could have pressured DAL management into actually operating DAL aircraft domestically.