Union: Delta wants to cut pilot jobs

[Superpilot92]

And to add another bit of info. We are still having retirements and with any luck some early outs. My seniority # for May is what was projected for Jan 2012. This will be a good place to hang your hat. Will we furlough now? Who knows, but at least the company and union are trying to do something. So, my advice to the newer regional pilots is to take the Joe Merchant, crj 567 types with a grain of salt. We all know the type. Guys like them were there when we were. They knew everything and just knew that the mainlines would never hire again and never win contract improvements. Always pointing out that they had friends furloughed(hired at a major prior to Gulf war 1) that would have been "senior" gettin' weekends off and flying the best saab, atr, brazilla, lines. Holding court in the crew room like some kind of "king of the dip********************s". Some easily influenced, new to the industry guys/gals believed their BS. Most of us just laughed them off as "angry, bitter, jealous lifers". Lo and behold, a year or two later the hiring started and those that kept their ear to the ground and kept sending those resumes every 6 months or so got the call. These guys missed the boat in the hiring boom of the late 90s and can't stand the fact that their former fo's are now capts or mid level widebody fo's at a major. Now, even when the hiring began again in 2007 and even more of their former fo's got hired and they didn't, they are even more bitter. Even if they could get hired now they won't apply because their ego won't allow them to go to the bottom and swing gear for someone who got lucky(in their words)"daddy was a pilot, female, other minority etc.)

Very well said!!

 

[Superpilot92]

Sorry guys, reliable source from the old school fourth floor told me continuous cuts throughout '09. 1800ish or more gone. Hope this changes bc its a sign of the overall industry for the next couple years or more.

Did someone fart?

Oh nevermind it's just another bitter lifer...

 

[DYLIN]

Another thing.

Compass is hiring and running a new hire class, right now.

Delta is paying for that since Compass is wholly owned.

Don't ya think, if they really thought there's a good chance they'll furlough soon, that rather than hire Compass pilots at $38K a pop for new-hire training in YUL, they'd just increase the block hours a bit someplace else temporarily instead (Mesaba, PCL, CMR, etc.).

Maybe, just maybe, the people making the decisions have given more thought to this than crj567 and JoeMerchant think they have.

 

[stall022]

Another thing.

Compass is hiring and running a new hire class, right now.

Delta is paying for that since Compass is wholly owned.

Don't ya think, if they really thought there's a good chance they'll furlough soon, that rather than hire Compass pilots at $38K a pop for new-hire training in YUL, they'd just increase the block hours a bit someplace else temporarily instead (Mesaba, PCL, CMR, etc.).

Maybe, just maybe, the people making the decisions have given more thought to this than crj567 and JoeMerchant think they have.

I don't know of an airline that hasn't hired until the day before they furlough. Many people on this board can tell you stories of CP's walking into new hire ground schools and telling everyone to go home.

After being on the street myself for 4 months during these crappy hiring times, I do wish the best for NWA and Delta guys and girls.

 

[General Lee]

Thanks to your losses on fuel, you have a 794 million dollar hole to dig yourselves out of for that '09 profit. Good luck. It doesn't really matter, though. You have joined the new class of companies that are " too big to fail."

Wow, you must be a CFO, you seem to understand all of our own finances. With oil lower now than what we hedged before, we actually can do better. Yes, there is a loss already, but our OWN people seem to think (and state in public) that we will eek out a profit. And, we have more cash than any airline out there on hand. Read the article below to enlighten yourself.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Q: What do they base their profit projections on?

Well, here is an article from two months ago. The Swine Flu affected some airlines, but we don't do a lot to Mexico (compared to AA and CAL). The economy is actually getting a bit better too compared to a couple months ago.


Delta: We'll Be Profitable in '09

03/10/09 - 01:57 PM EDT
Ted Reed The Street




Despite a global recession that will lead it to cut international capacity by 10% in September, Delta reasserted Tuesday that it will be profitable in 2009.

"We are expecting this year to be a profitable year," President Ed Bastian said Tuesday, at the JPMorgan Aviation and Transportation Conference. "We are planning to generate strong free cash flow this year." He said a second-quarter profit is likely.


The first quarter, however, will produce a loss, a result of reduced demand in a historically weak travel period, "a tremendous amount of fuel hedging losses" and Easter's occurrence this year in April rather than March. Bastian said first-quarter operating revenue will fall by 14%, though he noted: "It looks like the revenue period is stabilizing. It's not getting worse, from what we've seen."

Overall, Delta revenue is growing, up more than 8% in 2008. Liquidity is also rising, expected to reach $7 billion at year-end, up from $6 billion at the end of 2008, Bastian said.
However, demand remains weak, with transatlantic revenue particularly weak, according to both Bastian and conference speaker Jeff Smisek, president of Continental. Delta's planned cutbacks will reduce transatlantic capacity by 11% to 13% and trans-Pacific capacity 12% to 14%. They augment previously announced systemwide cutbacks of 6% to 8%.

Bastian also moved to counter speculation that a regulatory filing indicated Delta will not take delivery of 18 new 787s from Boeing. In the recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Delta said it had dropped the aircraft from its 10-K report on new orders. "We have excluded from [the report] our order for 18 B-787-8 aircraft," Delta said, because Boeing has said "it will be unable to meet the contractual delivery schedule for these aircraft."
Bastian acknowledged that the language, sought by Delta's attorneys, "provoked a lot of controversy." But he noted: "We still have a firm order book on the 787 (and) no one should read anything into our 10K disclosure that we've made any decision about changing course.

He indicated the key issue is the delivery schedule for the long-delayed aircraft and said the two parties are talking. "We'd already have eight flying at this point in time had Boeing been able to deliver," he said.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[crj567]

Q: What do they base their profit projections on?

We heard this same "annual profit" crap last year and the year before, and the year before that. I will believe it when (if ever) we see it.

My prediction is that RA and Steenland will not be able to turn an annual profit while they are in charge. The INTL routes are just killing the bottom line, but they are too dumb to care.

-They can say whatever they want (again and again,) but the proof is where the rubber meets the road, and we sure haven't seen anything good happen around this financial black hole in years!

-Looking real sharp in that Song plane, General!

 

[hockeypilot44]

All I ever read about is more cuts. Sooner or later I believe Delta will furlough. Watch fuel sky rocket again and Delta will have no hedges in place again. The 747-200's are gone, 757's are being parked, 747-400's are being parked, all the DC-9's except the 50's will be gone in a year or two, the old 767's will probably be parked in a few years, and no one is retiring. There are a few 777's on order and we might get a few MD-90's. I've heard a rumor that we might order some more 330's. Overall though, Delta/NWA is an already-overstaffed shrinking airline. I will be one of the pilots furloughed when it happens. I would like to be optimistic, but I decided to open my eyes and accept the fact that furlough is inevitable. The best case scenario at this point is to be recalled within 3-4 years.

 

[BrickTop]

All I ever read about is more cuts. Sooner or later I believe Delta will furlough. Watch fuel sky rocket again and Delta will have no hedges in place again. The 747-200's are gone, 757's are being parked, 747-400's are being parked, all the DC-9's except the 50's will be gone in a year or two, the old 767's will probably be parked in a few years, and no one is retiring. There are a few 777's on order and we might get a few MD-90's. I've heard a rumor that we might order some more 330's. Overall though, Delta/NWA is an already-overstaffed shrinking airline. I will be one of the pilots furloughed when it happens. I would like to be optimistic, but I decided to open my eyes and accept the fact that furlough is inevitable. The best case scenario at this point is to be recalled within 3-4 years.

Retirement is the only thing ANYONE should look forward to for the foreseeable future. The growth is OVER. GONE. GET IT?

 

[lakemead1]

Someone finally gets it.

Ahhh, another scarewest lifer.