Index,
I'm not on anyone's talking points. Slowplay and I are coming at the facts from an entirely different perspective. Slowplay and I could probably reach consensus on those facts if we compared notes. Delta has a fascinating business history that has never been written. Some authors have hit the corners with "Debunking the Delta Myth" and "Airline Without a Pilot." It is true Delta had a commanding market presence and was using it to leverage huge profits in the late 1990's. But Delta was also leveraging a huge bull run in asset prices which they relied on to underfund enormous pension obligations. When the market fell apart in 2000 - 2002 along with a wave of retirements, the promises made appeared very unsustainable quickly. McKinsey had devised a way to shift these obligations to the PBGC and was executing this plan at United. Under Ron Allen, McKinsey consultants began playing a central role in Delta's strategic governance.
Watch The Full Program Online | Can You Afford To Retire? | FRONTLINE | PBS
(the whole show it worth a watch, or jump to the Sections on United's Bankruptcy)
Richard Anderson's occasional references to very deep Delta history bring back memories of clear voiced honorable men who were aviation pioneers, incredible leaders and who would sit in the back row of the Presbyterian Church when on reserve. My sources on the topic had either moved on to run other airlines, or retired as Country Gentlemen, around the time Ron Allen. But they remained part of the "Delta family" with an intense interest in what was going on. They unanimously thought Delta would enter bankruptcy in mid 2005 and their prognostications were accurate within 6 months.
Another corresponding set of data points were coming a group of Comair pilots. Independently from any other sources, they were running the numbers and coming to the same conclusions as the group of retired Delta managers.
Of course this information would have been at complete counter purpose to the Delta pilots in the negotiation of Contract 2000. Slowplay's interest was, and is, to maximize the results for the Delta pilots.
The United Contract was much the result of ephemeral profitability and "choking the golden goose until it gave up it's last egg." After bankruptcy the unions which have survived are much more thoughtful about asphyxiating their poultry.
I get that some here are wanting "Mad Dog" Dubinski style negotiations. However, it seems unlikely that style is going to be any better at gaining us sustainable results now than it was then. We have learned and improved our game.