Airline Pilot Central Forums - Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?

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- - Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta? (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/delta/36912-any-latest-greatest-about-delta.html)

Interesting though, UAL and CAL have joined DAL/LCC in the slot swap fight and will probably join us in a legal battle over the basis that

1) the law does not give the FAA the authority to assess and address impacts on competition issues but only to promote safe and efficient use of airspace. It is the DOJ and to a lesser extent the idiot DOT secretary that have that authority, and

2) are slots an operating privelege granted by the government, as the FAA sess it, or property belonging to the airline, as we see it? Remember the slot auctions of 2008 for NY that were defeated? Seems as if there is precedent to buck the FAA's contention that it is an operating privelege.

Now if we win or lose, what happens to IAD/DCA with UAL/LCC merger? What happens to JFK/LGA with a AMR/JB merger?

Oh the fun. This reminds me of those movie scenes where 3 people are pointing guns at each other.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 792523)

Rehash: mid January 08 NWA and DAL begin merger talks. April 08 we announce we will merge. August 08 the EU signs off. end of October 08 the DOJ approves it. Jan 1, 2010 we finally begin operating on SOC.

All that to say, that was an extremely fast merger with basically 6 months from announcement to DOJ approval and we were the only operation seeking such DOJ approval.

I think what ACL mentioned about RA saying it was good to be the first out of the gate is really going to hold true given when we merged there were 6 legacy carriers and now just 5, to merge again takes it to 4. For AMR to merge with JB means they own JFK almost outright not to mention AMR just got their JA with BA. I don’t think one of those mergers or two will occur at the speed we did it. This government might want to be in the business of picking winners but it is also populist and may push all of this to the side until post election because none of it will be viewed as consumer friendly.

Post election you will, according to most, see some type of split government which may calm anxiety about what the CBO called yesterday an unsustainable US fiscal policy. That might lift the markets somewhat in 2011 and we’ll be in position to win while others are wrestling.

Not to get too political here, but I definitely agree here. I think if our merger were a year behind schedule, it would have been very unlikely to clear the approval hoops in such a short amount of time. I think this current administration has seated many individuals to department heads who are more interested with interfering, vilifying, and monday night quarterbacking industries in this country than they are with just letting the basic rules of business play themselves out.

Any merger will face plenty of resistance back in Washington nowadays. It will be hard to prove that any merger will not create any significant job loss while promoting equally, fair competition to the marketplace. That being said who knows how far up the ladder, and with which companies, lobbying support goes back in Washington.

Clearly AMR has some type of clout at the political level, as I am sure most carriers do. Maybe there is a sense of pride to keep a carrier that bears this country's name in business. Perhaps we should change our name from Delta Air Lines to Uncle Sam Patriot Air Stars & Stripes Air Lines. Our call sign could be Air Force Awesome!

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowplay (Post 792537)

The law is called ERISA, the Employee Retiree Income Security Act. Delta can end the pension outside of bankruptcy if they do a Standard termination. That means the plans have to be funded to pay all earned benefits...which would require billions in funding, a far cry from where they currently are. The PBGC can also do an involuntary termination, but wouldn't happen where a company is actively funding the plan in compliance with the law.

It's not mandatory that a company has a defined benefit pension plan. It is mandatory, with minor and rare exceptions, that once a company has a plan it must be funded in accordance with the law, and that earned qualified benefits cannot be reduced as long as the plan is in existence.

You are obviously more knowledgeable on this issue than I, but I think we are still on the same page.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 792539)

Oh the fun. This reminds me of those movie scenes where 3 people are pointing guns at each other.

This scene came to mind after reading that last sentence.
YouTube - Inglourious Bastards Extended Bar Scene HD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waves (Post 792249)

Delta pumping nearly $1B into retirement plans
(AP) – 3 hours ago

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines says it is on track to contribute nearly $1 billion to its employees' retirement plans this year, and it is providing some of the funding earlier than previously scheduled.

The world's biggest airline said Thursday that by the end of April it will have contributed $665 million to its traditional pension plans in the first four months of this year, in addition to $100 million that has been contributed to employees' defined contribution 401(k) plans.

Another roughly $200 million is scheduled to be contributed to 401(k) plans during the balance of the year.

Delta, based in Atlanta, says its pension funding is normally distributed throughout the year, with the majority of contributions being added near the end of the year.

Who's pensions, management's? DAL FA's pensions were basically fried around the same time ours were. So all the front line employees have no real pensions. I guess folks with lots of years left can theoretically have a pension.

This is not true, the only employees in the combined Delta/NWA to lose any earned pension money were the DAL S pilots. Not one dime in earned and accrued pension was lost by any other employees. The FA plan at Delta was frozen and does not get future accruals however it was replaced with a DC plan going forward. No earned retirement was lost by any flight attendant.

Any more updates on the 55XX series 757's getting painted? Anyone? Anyone?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 792563)

It's our own fault. ALPA should have shut the ENTIRE industry down when the US Airways pilots lost their pensions. They should have did it again when the United pilots were on the verge of losing their pensions. Instead, the Delta and NWA pilots just watched and were thankful they still had their pensions. We stood around and watched pensions that were already earned get terminated one by one. We deserved what was coming to us. We can't stand up for ourselves. We are scared to death of the RLA and other laws. I guess that's where the "organization" comes into play. Other unions go on illegal strikes without blinking when they need to. I'm referring to transit workers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acl65pilot (Post 792481)

Pretty. How much did that cost?

If I recall correctly, about 7mil per acft, including R&D. That was for glass, new autopilots, FMS, TCAS, EGPWS, and the retrofit design to a 1963 aircraft design

I bet it was a pretty penny given the fact that it had to go digital.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeypilot44 (Post 792569)

After reading sailings post, I admit that I didn't even know that DAL S FA's had pensions. However, I knew that similarly US Air terminated their pilots pensions but kept their FA's plans in tact. Does anyone know if UAL FA's still have theirs - normal funding or frozen?