Delta CFO Says Airline Is 'Tapped Out'

[KimWDW]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060314/ap_on_bi_ge/delta_pilots
Delta Air Lines Inc. is "tapped out" and can't borrow any more money to cover its mounting losses, making deep pay and benefit cuts it is seeking from its pilots essential to its survival, the company's chief financial officer told an arbitration panel Tuesday.

"We are clearly in the worst shape and are the most fragile of anyone in the industry," Bastian told the panel.

 

[CarolA]

Right now both sides are "posturing" The Airline claims the worst and the Pilots claim the best.... They both know the truth is they have to come to an agreement. (Having read financials and stuff I actually think NW is a little WORSE off then DL)

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I agree with CarolA... Delta is attempting some publicity scare tactics on the unions to avert a strike, but I seriously doubt the pilots will go on strike. They would be cutting off their nose to spite their face and simply voting themselves onto the unemployment line. Better to work with the airline and keep Delta flying and making some money than to send the airline into bankruptcy and lose everything. Both sides are rolling out the big publicity guns -- there will be a lot of sound and fury over the next couple of weeks until a settlement is reached.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

We have flights booked with Delta, should we worry or do you feel that this will come to end that works for everyone? We don't know much about flying, but with almost 1000.00 in plane tickets, I really don't want a strike.

 

[bicker]

I think the key thing to keep in mind is that you cannot do much about it now. You cannot control what they do. If you haven't purchased tickets, the best advice I've read says DON'T. If I held Delta or Northwest tickets, I would be sure I've thought through what I will do in case of a strike or ceasing of operations.

 

[CarolA]

Well, I have a flight booked to Europe this summer on DL for MORE then $1,000 and I am not that worried.

Actually there is very little you can do at this point. You can't get a refund or a credit on your CC until they actually GO on strike and/or shut down. I guess you could buy tickets on another airline, but I would not do this right now.

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

We have tickets on Delta for our October trip. We paid $535 for 3 tickets back in early December. I'm just going to wait and see what happens. While I don't relish the thought of it we could drive to WDW if something happened.

Debbie

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I have tickets to San Antonio leaving 4/1, returning 4/8. I am not worried that Delta will go under. As with NWA, this is a lot of fuss and bluster the accomplishes little more than creating panic with the traveling public -- which they appear to be achieving with great success.

Delta pilots know that a strike will mean they lose their jobs. Some may find work with other airlines, but I doubt that all of them would be absorbed back into the workforce. And certainly they would not be making the equivalent salaries they make now. They would lose benefits, seniority, pensions, etc. It would be an incredibly drastic and ignorant move on their part. But dumber things have been done before.

Bottom line - I am not losing any sleep over this. I'll cross the bridge when I come to it.

 

[bicker]

But dumber things have been done before.

You've said a mouthful, there.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Delta pilots know that a strike will mean they lose their jobs. Some may find work with other airlines, but I doubt that all of them would be absorbed back into the workforce. And certainly they would not be making the equivalent salaries they make now. They would lose benefits, seniority, pensions, etc. It would be an incredibly drastic and ignorant move on their part. But dumber things have been done before.

Excellent point!

Not many legacy carriers are hiring right now (I actually believe Us Air is). The pilots that strike will be putting there carreers in harms way. If they do get fired, look for them on your next commuter flight, because these airlines (American Eagle, Pinnacle, Horizon, Colgan) are all hiring. I have Delta tickets booked in mid april, and Im not the least bit worried. IF something was to change drasticly in the next 25 days, I might look into other options, but as of now, no sleep is being lost

 

[mamacatnv]

Seems to me and I am generalizing here. Haven't all the major airlines that have gone into bankruptcy in the past few years also had highly publicized labor disputes? United was the mechanics or maybe flight attendants I think, NW is the pilots and here we have Delta with the Pilots again....

I have $1200.00 worth of Tickets for December and I am not horribly worried, a little anxious maybe. If Delta were to have labor problems and stopped flying altogether then there would be a ton of pilots out of work, I don't think the smaller carriers pay like these big guys. I agree with poster that the pilots would be stupid to go down this road and that this is purely posturing on both sides.

Given the time frame I have to play with this should all be resolved one way or the other and then I can get a refund from my CC company and book on SW.

My father is retired from UAL and he has benefits that are unheard of just about anywhere. I think the time has come that for the airlines to survive in todays markets they are going to have to be like everyone else and look at cutting their extremely cushy benefit packages. IMHO

MamaCatNV

 

[CarolA]

I live in Atlanta and scanned the want ads Sunday.

Saw no ads titled "Airline Pilots" Much less "Airline Pilot with 10 plus years expereince" I think the pilots also saw that paper.

I found a website once (don't know where it was) that compared wages and benefits between the airlines..... The airlines that are hiring do pay less and have MUCH lower benefits then DL..... I think this will come to the exact same end as the NW fight a few weeks ago....

If I am wrong, I will deal with it.

 

[bicker]

If I am wrong, I will deal with it.

And that's a critical thing for folks to realize. There are no guarantees in life, and this is definitely an "up-in-the-air" situation. It may work out just fine, or it may not. If it doesn't, it's unfortunate, and we will each make up for it in the best way we can, from our own resources as necessary. Folks shouldn't expect that the government, the out-of-business airline, or any other airline will go out of their way to make everything okay for any individual passenger -- we each have to do work and put our own resources (time and money) into to mix when this sort of thing happens.

 

[CarolA]

Of course I live in Atlanta...

Boy would things be fun here! That airport is vital and DL is the CARRIER! Should send SHOCKWAVES thur the economy (And to be honest all of the elected officials will IMMEDIATELY try to get the White House to FORCE the pilots back to work and they might succeed there!)

 

[Bill From PA]

I have no fear in booking with a major carrier in backruptcy, I've done it twice. What I want to avoid is booking a flight for a time frame during which some part of the process comes to a head, such as the expiration of a contract or a court ruling of some sort. I'm already planning our March 2007 trip and the airfare for this timeframe goes on sale next month. I booked the 2006 trip 330 days out and would do the same this time if I knew this situation would be resolved before 3/2007. Any insight into when the fate of Delta will be known? I realize they can fold their tent at any time, I'm not looking for a guarantee, I just want to avoid any knowable issues that are scheduled for the first 2 weeks in March '07. The other carrier with flights I can use is USAir. I've flown both out of AVP and will use either, the stability of their schedule being more important than $$.

Bill From PA

 

[CarolA]

I think things on DL are scheduled to come to a head on or about Mid April....

 

[clkelley]

If the pilots actually do strike, will this effect the Delta Connection Carriers??

We currently have Skymiles flights on Delta Connection ASA and Freedom on regional jets for May.

Thanks

 

[Bill From PA]

Thanks, Carol, that's precisely when my 330 day window opens. The fee I paid last April for USAir out of PHL turned out to be the low, so I'm inclined to buy early again if there's no known issues for our week.

Bill From PA

 

[CarolA]

If the pilots actually do strike, will this effect the Delta Connection Carriers??

We currently have Skymiles flights on Delta Connection ASA and Freedom on regional jets for May.

Thanks

Figure they are gone with Delta. Those airlines exist to feed Delta, without the mother ship I don't think they will fly. I am pretty sure ASA is on a different contract, not a clue on Freedom.

 

[bicker]

It depends on the carrier. Some are owned by the major carrier, and would go under with the major carrier. Some are so dependent on the major carrier that they'd go under along with the the major carrier even though they're not the same company. And some would be able to switch pretty readily to feeding another major carrier.