LGA Expansion Phase II
 

Question ...

RA on said on his weekly message that we are moving into Phase II of the LGA expansion. He mentioned that initially many of the destinations were started with DCI aircraft. Now that the process has matured, we are up gauging the routes to mainline aircraft. He said to check DLNET to see the changes.

Where on DLNET is this? Is he meaning going to TravelNet to view the changes? Or is there a listing of all of the equipment changes on DLNET? I've scoured the website and couldn't find anything.

Thanks ...

It seems like there are a segment of DL pilots for whom this job is basically a hobby/beer money. Over on the Dalpa forum, a particular NY copilot who has no kids, flies to Nice every week so he can put on his fancy suits and take a helicopter over to see his buddy at the palace in Monaco. Good for him, this job is just a ride to the party. For those of us with mouths to feed and college educations to pay for, I find this obscene. Of course he is all for this TA, as are a few trust funders with their +1's. Somebody please call his a$$ out.

Yes, we will be in an industry leading position and those guys will have time to catch up to us....and that's bad why? Tell me again why they didn't catch our 2004 rates between 2005-2012 when they were solidly profitable?:confused:

As to your "record profits"...not exactly. We've had 3 years in the last decade where we have been profitable, with an average pretax margin during those years of 3.7%. Compare that to C2K, where the 5 years prior produced and average pretax margin over 8%. 1998 was a 12% margin and produced PTIX of $1.68 billion. PTIX from 1996-2000 was $7.4 billion, and that's without adding in the PTIX made by NWA. PTIX from 2007-2011 was $1.1 billion. 2010 was our best year post merger and produced PTIX of $1.45 billion, so the numbers aren't even close even though our revenue has nearly tripled.

As a thick-skinned ex-NWA guy, I really don't care that some of you guys always seem to bring up our history in a somewhat negative light -- as if we serve as an example of what not to do. I am more than willing to refute and defend the NWA pilot groups history. But, is this really part of the discussion you want to have, or are you just trying to jab us?

P.S. I think we did pretty good in 1998.

It seems to me that a guy who is doing this as a hobby would be more likely to vote no, rather than yes. For " those of us with mouths to feed and college educations to pay for", I predict a difficult discussion with the wife at the kitchen table. "What?!? You're voting against a pay raise because you don't like the Republic carve-out?!!"

This TA will pass 60/40, and it will be voted in primarily by junior pilots. As Sailing has said, there's little in this deal for the wide body captains. The one big pay bump during your career comes with the move to the left seat. This TA promises a lot of new left seats. That, combined with a small (too small!) pay raise, will carry the day.

I will talk to my rep again. I'm sure it was the costing like 51 was costed.

And still no answer on the productivity changes. Answer embarrassing?

S&P revises Delta Air Lines outlook to positive

Overview
-- U.S.-based Delta Air Lines is generating free cash flow, and we
believe its credit measures will gradually improve as the company repays debt.
-- We are affirming our 'B' corporate credit rating and our other ratings
on Delta while revising the outlook to positive from stable.
-- We could raise ratings if the improvement in financial measures occurs
more rapidly than we currently expect, resulting in funds flow to debt rising
into the mid-teens percent area.

Rating Action
On May 25, 2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings,
including the 'B' corporate credit rating (CCR), on Atlanta-based Delta Air
Lines Inc. We revised the outlook to positive from stable.

More at the link.

It's bad because of the opportunity cost of what could have been achieved in light of the leverage that we had. It's bad because it sets a precedent that bankruptcy era wages are here to stay, and that a cola type increase is the best we can expect from now until eternity. It's bad because those rates aren't even close to what the company used to pay us when we had a full DB pension and far better work rules. It's bad because we actually traded away profit sharing and work rules and some argue scope to achieve those raises... what will we be asked to concede in 2015 for our next round of 3% raises?

Delta reported a RECORD PROFIT in Q4, 2011, see article below

Atlanta, GA – In what executives called the best Q4 showing in company history, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Wednesday reported a $425-million dollar profit for the last three months of 2011.
That's a steep jump compared to the previous year, where its net gain was $19-million.
Speaking on an investor conference call, Delta president Ed Bastian said the earnings were "remarkable."
"Delta faced over $3-billion in fuel price pressure during 2011, which we were able to mitigate through strong revenue performance, capacity discipline, and a sound fuel-hedging strategy," he said.
For the year, Delta posted an $854-million profit, achieved partly through higher ticket prices and capacity cuts.



***Expect more of the same in 2012.***


As far as reports Delta is looking to acquire bankrupt American Airlines, CEO Richard Anderson remained tight-lipped.
"We're not going to make any comments on any of the speculations."

Great Post!