DAL737FO said:
This statement is getting so tiring that I had to reply. It seems most of you guys at CMR and ASA point out that our company shows you guys as showing a profit.
I can understand that you get tired of hearing that the Delta subsidiaries are "subzidizing the mainline." I just have to ask -- has it occured to you that we (CMR and ASA) are equally tired of hearing you imply that you subsidize us and that the "drain" on your exchequer result from the purchase of our aircraft?
I can't speak for ASA but with respect to Comair you might give this some thought. The majority of the aircraft than Comair operates were bought and paid for by Comair before Delta paid nearly $1.9 billions to acquire our company, against our will. You might further consider that prior to our acquisition, we were far more profitable than we are today. Nowadays, thanks to our ownerniship by Delta, Comair is lucky to show an $88 million dollar (I think that was the number) profit on the books that you claim Delta management may be doctoring. Before we were blessed with your largess and were an independent airline with our own undoctored books, stock and 10-K, Comair's annual profit approached $300 millions and we were the second most profitable (based on invested capital - ROI) airline in the world. It seems Delta's "expertise" of ownership has done nothing more than reduce our profitability.
I woudn't know who is subsidizing whom. It is true that we are bigger now than we were when Delta "bought" us. It is also true that we were better off (more profitable) as an independent and it is highly probable that we would be bigger than we are today if our little company had NOT been taken over by your dinosaur. If only we could turn back the clock.
Sorry you're miffed buddy but sometimes the truth has to be told. Perhaps if you had been at Delta longer you might understand why your company bought ours, paid what it did, took a wasteful $700 million dollar strike, and still "owns" one of the most efficient and profitable "regional" airlines in the country. Just understand that you didn't do us any favors, haven't done us any favors and are in fact dam*ed lucky that you were able to buy us when you did. Otherwise we would long since have run you out of you second largest hub, which without our presence is not financially viable.
Roosters shouldn't crow until they are certain that the sun is rising and they are not just looking at reflections from the farmers slaughter house. The industry is a mess and all of us are in trouble. However, we of Comair are an asset to Delta not a liability. Maybe your situation makes you not like that but it is nevertheless true. We do not owe Delta nor the Delta pilots for our success. It was there before you bought us and has been maintained, though to a lesser degree, despite the acquisition. Perhaps your management is expert at running a "legacy carrier" (doubtful) but nobody does a better job of running a regional than Comair. There's more than 25 years of history to back that up.
Today's market is our cup of tea. Hopefully in the future, your markets can be rrestored or you can learn to adapt to the changing tide. We wish you well,
No hard feelings.