General Lee
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2002
- Posts
- 20,442
Man alive. I sure do get a lot of responses. I will try to answer each.
Doh,
Maybe Comair will be sold or IPO'd, but it won't be great news for you guys. If and when it happens, the new owner will tell you that it is "time to be competitive." That really means PAY CUTS. Delta pays you more than any other regional, and even though I believe most regional pilots aren't paid enough, management doesn't think that way. They see you as being paid a lot more than most, and that would have to change to "be competitive." You have a contract, that is correct. When it is up, and you have a new owner (if you do), you will get a huge pay cut so you can bid those other contracts to fly feed for other airlines. That won't be fun, and I have been there already. Also, with all of your RJs, you don't want to be a stand alone carrier. You wouldn't last long against expanding Southwest, Airtran, and Jetblue. Right now you are profitable because we mostly put you on routes that LCCs don't serve directly. (sometimes we do, though)
Medflyer,
The plan is working, except for one part---oil. Did you know that it would get to $60 a barrel? I didn't. Did you buy any oil futures? You're right that high oil will not help our cause, but the rest of the plan is going very well. Our CFO--Palumbo, said that we have already hit 80% of our planned transformation in record time----faster than he has ever seen it done. Part of that is because we have only one major union---which is another attractive thing about our company (to potential investors). And yes, if we get to a certain cash level, we may have to file. That is true for everyone, and all of the majors are dealing with that right now (except the LCCs). Here are the good things going on at Delta right now:
1. Pilots and other employees gave big bucks for savings
2. Got rid of RJ hub--DFW, which was $ucking us dry
3. Started to advertise, and started Simplifares
4. Operation clockwork---doing wonders in ATL (during good weather)
5. working with major creditors--GE and AMEX---and allowing us flexibility
6. Song is growing, giving us a great tool against Jetblue--point to point
7. up to $5 billion a year in savings by 2006
8. short term fuel hedging---10%, not great but better than nothing
Bad things at DL:
1. Debt looming
2. Pension payments looming, trying to get pension relief through Congress
3. High Oil
If we have to go to Chap 11, two of those will be changed. The only thing we can't change is high oil. As far as investors or DIP financing while in Chap 11---it has been apparent that other airlines have not had any trouble getting either, and their assets sometimes have been minimal too. USAir owned very little, and they have people waiting in line to get onboard. United, without the pensions, has been approached by Texas Pacific group and another group headed by Gordon Bethune. United really hasn't formulated a plan yet, after 3 years in Chap 11, and we have. What does TED do anyway? It goes through hubs and point to point....? What I am saying is that our guys probably do have a plan----and hopefully that does not include Chap11, but if it does there will hopefully be something on the other side. And how do you know GE doesn't think Delta is doing well? We were told in a memo that they (GE and AMEX) were "impressed" with our progress (going for $5 billion a year cuts). Sounds probable to me. And, is there something in a contract that says AMEX can't use other airlines? The Skymiles card has 25 million customers. Yeah, they don't think that is worth it.....???? Come on now.
inthewind,
Don't say that out loud, you might get ambushed by an RJDC member or Medflyer. He thinks he is saving the WORLD with his RJ. (Just like the RJ saved DFW) The RJ is good for route finding, point to point away from hubs, and hub feeding to cities that don't have LCC service. Throw a LCC mainline plane in the mix, and the RJ is sunk most of the time with the business traveller.
twobits,
The reason the RJ service has grown is because Fred Greed (who is gone now) thought businessmen wanted FREQUENCY. He got that wrong. What did AirTran do with their RJ feed? They dumped it. How about Southwest? Never had it. How is INDY air doing with their majority RJ fleet? Worse than we are. Jetblue is starting with 100 seaters as their smallest plane. Good idea. The way to make money with low fares is high seat numbers. You can spread out the costs with more seats. If an RJ with 50 or 70 seats goes up against a Southwest 737 with 125 or so seats, Southwest can charge a fare that would make them money, but not on an RJ. Southwest , Jetblue, and Airtran are growing. Mainline hasn't gotten many new planes since 9-11 (some 738s and maybe a few widebodies---not many) and we actually parked our MD-11s too soon. The ex VP of Marketing (Vicky E.) stated that "She didn't think the loads would have been so good after the invasion of Iraq." Infact, we had record loads that Summer, and we parked all MD-11s just before it. There were many management blunders, and almost all of them are GONE now.
Jetflyer,
I don't always say things are "peachy." I tend to be upbeat, but I know what might be out there. I think we finally have people that want this airline to succeed (even with Gay Pride float sponsorship....). But, we may be too late with our initiatives. They are trying to do what they can, and hopefully more fare increases will come with the higher priced oil. It is their job to monitor that and make decisions. Leo Mullion waited too long, thinking USAir would die in the meantime. Never happend. Grinstein is working hard, and he should be on a golf course by now. He isn't, though. He still makes time to go to the incommand meetings, and is very straight forward. There is a plan out there.
You can continue to see all the bad, and your situation may warrant that. I really enjoy my job. I wish you did too.
Bye Bye--General Lee
Doh,
Maybe Comair will be sold or IPO'd, but it won't be great news for you guys. If and when it happens, the new owner will tell you that it is "time to be competitive." That really means PAY CUTS. Delta pays you more than any other regional, and even though I believe most regional pilots aren't paid enough, management doesn't think that way. They see you as being paid a lot more than most, and that would have to change to "be competitive." You have a contract, that is correct. When it is up, and you have a new owner (if you do), you will get a huge pay cut so you can bid those other contracts to fly feed for other airlines. That won't be fun, and I have been there already. Also, with all of your RJs, you don't want to be a stand alone carrier. You wouldn't last long against expanding Southwest, Airtran, and Jetblue. Right now you are profitable because we mostly put you on routes that LCCs don't serve directly. (sometimes we do, though)
Medflyer,
The plan is working, except for one part---oil. Did you know that it would get to $60 a barrel? I didn't. Did you buy any oil futures? You're right that high oil will not help our cause, but the rest of the plan is going very well. Our CFO--Palumbo, said that we have already hit 80% of our planned transformation in record time----faster than he has ever seen it done. Part of that is because we have only one major union---which is another attractive thing about our company (to potential investors). And yes, if we get to a certain cash level, we may have to file. That is true for everyone, and all of the majors are dealing with that right now (except the LCCs). Here are the good things going on at Delta right now:
1. Pilots and other employees gave big bucks for savings
2. Got rid of RJ hub--DFW, which was $ucking us dry
3. Started to advertise, and started Simplifares
4. Operation clockwork---doing wonders in ATL (during good weather)
5. working with major creditors--GE and AMEX---and allowing us flexibility
6. Song is growing, giving us a great tool against Jetblue--point to point
7. up to $5 billion a year in savings by 2006
8. short term fuel hedging---10%, not great but better than nothing
Bad things at DL:
1. Debt looming
2. Pension payments looming, trying to get pension relief through Congress
3. High Oil
If we have to go to Chap 11, two of those will be changed. The only thing we can't change is high oil. As far as investors or DIP financing while in Chap 11---it has been apparent that other airlines have not had any trouble getting either, and their assets sometimes have been minimal too. USAir owned very little, and they have people waiting in line to get onboard. United, without the pensions, has been approached by Texas Pacific group and another group headed by Gordon Bethune. United really hasn't formulated a plan yet, after 3 years in Chap 11, and we have. What does TED do anyway? It goes through hubs and point to point....? What I am saying is that our guys probably do have a plan----and hopefully that does not include Chap11, but if it does there will hopefully be something on the other side. And how do you know GE doesn't think Delta is doing well? We were told in a memo that they (GE and AMEX) were "impressed" with our progress (going for $5 billion a year cuts). Sounds probable to me. And, is there something in a contract that says AMEX can't use other airlines? The Skymiles card has 25 million customers. Yeah, they don't think that is worth it.....???? Come on now.
inthewind,
Don't say that out loud, you might get ambushed by an RJDC member or Medflyer. He thinks he is saving the WORLD with his RJ. (Just like the RJ saved DFW) The RJ is good for route finding, point to point away from hubs, and hub feeding to cities that don't have LCC service. Throw a LCC mainline plane in the mix, and the RJ is sunk most of the time with the business traveller.
twobits,
The reason the RJ service has grown is because Fred Greed (who is gone now) thought businessmen wanted FREQUENCY. He got that wrong. What did AirTran do with their RJ feed? They dumped it. How about Southwest? Never had it. How is INDY air doing with their majority RJ fleet? Worse than we are. Jetblue is starting with 100 seaters as their smallest plane. Good idea. The way to make money with low fares is high seat numbers. You can spread out the costs with more seats. If an RJ with 50 or 70 seats goes up against a Southwest 737 with 125 or so seats, Southwest can charge a fare that would make them money, but not on an RJ. Southwest , Jetblue, and Airtran are growing. Mainline hasn't gotten many new planes since 9-11 (some 738s and maybe a few widebodies---not many) and we actually parked our MD-11s too soon. The ex VP of Marketing (Vicky E.) stated that "She didn't think the loads would have been so good after the invasion of Iraq." Infact, we had record loads that Summer, and we parked all MD-11s just before it. There were many management blunders, and almost all of them are GONE now.
Jetflyer,
I don't always say things are "peachy." I tend to be upbeat, but I know what might be out there. I think we finally have people that want this airline to succeed (even with Gay Pride float sponsorship....). But, we may be too late with our initiatives. They are trying to do what they can, and hopefully more fare increases will come with the higher priced oil. It is their job to monitor that and make decisions. Leo Mullion waited too long, thinking USAir would die in the meantime. Never happend. Grinstein is working hard, and he should be on a golf course by now. He isn't, though. He still makes time to go to the incommand meetings, and is very straight forward. There is a plan out there.
You can continue to see all the bad, and your situation may warrant that. I really enjoy my job. I wish you did too.
Bye Bye--General Lee
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