I wish you were right about the last statement, but dalpa has already shown they lack the testicular fortitude to back pilots when they actually do fly the contract.....so not sure how much leverage the pilot group would be able to put forward when your backers are about as solid as milk toast.

You bring up an interesting data point. American has 17 billion in total debt.

Delta has 9.4 billion in adjusted net debt.

American was able to put up better profit numbers while servicing a little less than twice the debt Delta has.

It is considered unwise actually to carry the amount of cash American has. (Think the beach boys my northern bros) It has a better use than sitting in a bank. If they paid down 8 billion in debt tomorrow and carried the remainder in cash they have almost identical debt and cash on hand numbers to Delta.

They have some integration costs to consider though going forward. That being said, they are able to generate incredible revenue even still.

They will be a strong number one for some time.

Well. With MD's resume and time on the SPC, I had some hope for the testicular fortitude side of the equation. I guess time will tell as actions are stronger than words, memos, slogans.

I hope we don't have another one of these on our hands.

http://asshatemoticon.com/images/asshat.png

Sadly, there seem to be a few of these lingering in our representation structure. Some even post here. Imagine that.

BTW, the structure is fine, the lingerers are not. This is not a Donut endorsement.

There is however another major difference between AMR and Delta. AMR has for the last few years been doing a agressive fleet replacement strategy. That requires large amounts of capital. Delta has chosen to pay down debt and recycle old airframes. I think part of Delta managements decision making process in that regard is clouded by their huge push to raise the stock price. The large number of options senior management hold may have impacted that choice.
Time will tell who is right but if jet fuel spikes above 4 a gallon we will be in a difficult position relative to airlines that modernized their fleets.

Example? Weren't reserve pilots effected by FAR 117 made whole?

I am going to bet, imho btw, that we'd do alright in that situation. Not only because of Trainer but because if oil prices spike this weak economy is probably going to crash some more.

If that happens then demand may drop and prices may have to drop and UCAL and AMR will have to pay for those modernized fleets plus deal with their large 50-seat fleets with less revenue. We have a less expensive fleet to maintain on routes where revenue would take the largest hit.

I've heard it said on the missions they run the 88 fleet even with old engines is pretty cost efficient.

I also remember prior to 9/11 how CAL had this new fleet and all these newly leased airplanes while NWA and DAL had old fleets. 9/11 happens and Bethune hit the panic button real quick, if felt like they were operating with maxed out credit cards. It was not an enviable position.

I could be wrong.

Example: complete lack of leadership regarding SD's contract-altering memo.

How much negotiating capital was squandered and time wasted by dithering and accepting the company steamrolling our contract? Firm resolve and direction was what we needed. We got it...from management.

Doesn't bode well for C15. The company knows Dalpa will roll over when steamrolled.

Clearly you are not referring to the pilots who had the lost pay from their reserve PDs fully restored and any record of missed assignments expunged, so to whom are you referring?

You could be right also. The bad news is that management considers the MD88 a accumulator fleet. They can be parked quickly at little cost in a downturn. Airlines with newer fleets have to keep those aircraft flying to generate revenue for payments. A downturn could see Delta with a quicker capacity drop then others. That's never a good thing for pilots.