Looks like 'ol Lumberg is back.

 

While there were qualifying statements, the implication was clearly hiring this fall, from both ALPA and the company. We were stupid for not reading the disclaimers and instead listening to all the flag waiving and unity building. Obviously there will be more mainline flying eventually, unless of course "it's the economy stupid" delays or derails that yet again.

Seems a lot of things change - as SD finally affirmed - that Europe point to point is history in favor of large hub and spoke flying to European population centers for onward codeshare connections. I recall that we were told a few years back that could never happen either.

The problem is an MEC that functions, for purposes of buying into and granting releif for business plans, more as a department of the company than a trade union.

I don't disagree with the economy dictating growth and plans, the problem is ex post facto rationilazations for things that change and questions and factors that should have clearly been asked and vetted before the ratification of the TA. I don't recall much questioning of the economy (stupid) while we were getting all those power points, spreadsheets, and notepads. I do recall anyone who questioned the TA (20 Captain Rep) as being institutionally marginalized by ALPA.

 

Yeah, and that old lightbulb was awesome before it burned out.

 

Now THAT is a funny post! Thank you for the morning laugh. Great way to start the day!

Well done!

MARTY!!

 

Two topics. Take your pick.

Topic 1Topic 2You take your pick, but choose wisely...

 

So you thought those jobs were going to show up in 76 days? You do know the contract was signed on 1 July 2012. I also hope your really don't believe that Delta airlines operates in a vacuum. Have you picked up a newspaper since 1 July?
Your stating two thousand jobs will be required by the contract or implied by ALPA is also BS. The document you reference put out by ALPA is still available on the website. You should have read it before voting on the contract but take the time to read it now. Read all if it including the assumptions. The actual number assuming a bunch of things which they carefully spell out was 1107 additional jobs. Thats almost half your quoted number. That number was at the end of 2016 or over 4 years from now. The number quoted for 2012 as far as extra jobs was 1 total job. They quoted 180 additional jobs by the end of 2013 or over 15 months from now. If the economy causes marketing to make a 2 percent downward adjustment in their block hour plan we lose over 200 jobs.
The 1107 additional jobs is almost exactly what you would expect with the addition of the 717's to the fleet and the resultant shift in block hours from DCI to the mainline. The first 717 however is still about a year away from a in service date. Again the contract was signed 76 days ago. Talk to me in 3 years!

 

Oh Newk, why did you have to leave the 9?





But I guess our loss is New York's gain. It's good to know you're being productive on your short callls.

 

Little tidbit from Motley Fool that I thought you all would be interested in:

1-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: Delta Air Lines?
By Brian D. Pacampara | More Articles
September 16, 2012 | Comments (1)
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, airline operator Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL ) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Delta's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Delta facts
Headquarters (Founded) Atlanta (1924)
Market Cap $8.0 billion
Industry Airlines
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $36.4 billion
Management CEO Richard Anderson (since September 2007)
CFO Paul Jacobson (since March 2012)
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 8.9%
Cash/Debt $3.5 billion / $13.1 billion
Competitors AMR
Deutsche Lufthansa
United Continental Holdings
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 42% of the 932 members who have rated Delta believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Earlier this summer, one of those Fools, colleague Justin Loiseau (TMFJLo), succinctly summed up the Delta bear case for our community:
Delta suffers from the worst fuel efficiency of any airline. It suffers from lackluster customer confidence and has the oldest fleet of any major airline. It is reinvesting too slowly and its corner-cutting will continue to push it further behind competition.

The one comment:
On September 16, 2012, at 2:45 PM, tbirdreg wrote:
The observations about Delta are right on target. When I worked at NWA, which was absorbed by Delta 4 years ago, we had Anderson as the CEO. It was the same story.... lack of consumer confidence, poor fleet efficiency, and reinvesting too slowly or not at all. That is what cause NWA to go down the tubes. Now Delta has adopted that same strategy. The latest is the leasing of AirTran/Southwest's used Boeing 717, they are in effect replacing the DC9-50s which are 40+ years old with a new version of the airplane no one wants to fly on.

 

Thanks Uncle. The comment, however, is BS.

 

Operative word in article is: Fool

Thanks, but not really interested. No one takes anything said at Motley Fool seriously.