Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
I get that, but we pretty much stopped hiring five years ago. We are down nearly 25% since the merger and down 10.9% since just last year. Where is the bottom for this airline? ( I am impressed that one of the promises kept out of the merger is not to furlough us )
Once again the question is, time to move on, again? The answer is "probably not," but good news would be most welcome. Instead we get more variations on the market retrenchment / outsourcing scheme.
For employees who have been on the bubble for over a decade as a result of Delta's various outsourcing schemes ... it does get very old.
My opinion:
If the industry every fully recovers, there is going to be decent growth here. These JV's set up for that.
Keep in mind that we have seen very little up side since the AF JV was signed. The power in the JV's for us has never been realized. If we ever see growth we will see it.
In the interim, the JV has allowed DAL, not the DAL pilot, a network to fly their pax on without the commensurate CAPEX in a financial environment where rapid international growth is not sustainable. What that has offered the DAL pilot is less tangible; stagnation, no furloughs and a company that can support the staffing carrying cost while paying down debt, making decent profits on mid level margins, and is better positioning themselves for the future.
Again, pilots want growth, but a company that when it grows can sustain and support it is much desired over a company that grows for market share than caves under the debt burden (DAL ala last decade)