This goes back to a topic we have touched on in the past. Its possible that major airlines are no longer intended to make money for their stockholders. They are public utilities. Delta is a cash cow for other interests and is never really going to be profitable for any length of time. The only people really making "profit" from delta range from bondholders and credit card companies to peanut vendors to hotels and tax collectors. The institutional stockholders of Delta are nothing but place holders and the average investors are sacrificial lambs.
Management gives lip service to making profits for stockholders but they know the system is rigged. They have their hand in the stream. They get their million dollar salaries.
That may be why SWA never used their enormous fuel hedge windfall of the last few years to generate huge profit. Instead they used it to cut fares and try to drive down profitability in the entire industry and maybe put some people out of business.
We need top keep this in mind during negotiations. It is a mistake to think Delta needs to be profitable to pay us what we deserve. We need to view our salaries as a fixed cost to the airline just like rent or maintenance.