Quote:
Also, there was some speculation of an impending order for up to 125 787's and Anderson was quoted in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution as saying he doesn't know of any airline that needs 120 787's.
Originally Posted by Tinpusher007
A question for you Delta guys: When Anderson took over as CEO, I remember Capt Lee Moak asking him point blank if he was looking to merge Delta with another carrier, and Anderson, in so many words said no, IIRC. Now, there is all this talk of possible mergers and how it would be the best thing for shareholder value, blah blah blah. I was just curious what the pilot group thinks about this? Also, there was some speculation of an impending order for up to 125 787's and Anderson was quoted in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution as saying he doesn't know of any airline that needs 120 787's.
I don't believe there are any mergers in the works. There will always be talk, but at this point that's all it is. However, Delta does have to be prepared to act if consolidation starts to happen. I think that's all Anderson was trying to say in recent interviews.
Speculation about 125 787s was just that....speculation. It came from a quote from Jim Whitehurst at the Paris Airshow where he said he could see the need in the future for up to 125 787s, which makes sense because Delta has about that many 767s that will need to be replaced eventually. The press went wild with that comment and inferred that an order for 125 787s was imminent. The 767s will have to be replaced, but that is still down the road a ways.
Andersen and Bastion have said lately that we need to be very careful about taking on debt. I don't expect to see any large orders for aircraft in the near future.