Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

Carl,

A lot has to do with shifting costs off property. Our management is focused on reducing our debt which means not buying things, like airplanes. Air France has about 1/3 of our debt load and has their aircraft acquisitions subsidized. They have 76 wide body jets on order.

On the DCI side, SkyWest is the largest Bombardier customer on the planet and they get significant (was about 25%) off the lowest prices paid by competitors for parts and support. Then you got some operators like Republic and Trans States who are willing to make silly deals just to keep the growth going. Trans States (GoJets parent) uses alter ego creations to side step scope and destroy longevity, so it resets pilot costs every so often. Delta can't compete on those terms.

As Delta shrinks it has fewer operations to allocate costs to. Our metrics as measured by seat miles will increase in cost. Hence the law that "you can not shrink to profitability."

I agree with management's work to reduce debt. I understand they can maintain and grow their network without us. The answer I have proposed is that "Delta" pilots perform this flying, even if the operator is not "Delta Air Lines."

You now understand why I equate unity to power at the bargaining table. Management can make this place work without us. We need better, more effective, scope to turn this around.

I like the JV language, but the 36 month compliance window was, and is, too large.