Originally Posted by
SailorJerry
It just occurred to me that with the Regional sector in complete disarray it may be cheaper for DAL to quickly add and remove capacity with the DC-9 fleet than it would to link up with Skywest or Shuttle America for a 5 year deal. If all you need is a couple extra sections from ATL-ORD the DC-9 is really a solid choice.
Don't disagree. ditto the PCL issue, however it was stated that:
a) 717's now not showing until Sep 13 (Nov staffing memo)
b) we don't need to hire due to surplus and higher ALV caused by TA (AMS base visit)
c) we are making record profits even in a (overstated for cover) weak economy
d) we have gone from hiring this year, to maybe hiring this year, to hiring next year, to maybe hiring next year, to a small surplus of 320 pilots to a "sizable" surplus to fill surplus MD88 in the hope they bid (or will displace) to short course over to the 717. (ALPA. Flt Ops, Crew Planning)
e) good news is some possible DC9 and 330/747 intentional awards (or maybe no displacements?) to surplussing in anticipation of training constraints and uncertainty of 62-65 retirements (Crew Planning)
The TA was a huge win - just not for the Delta pilots.
