buzzpat

I second that, or third, or whatever...you've been great ACL. Welcome home NWA guys. Let's rock.

sig598

Good call buzz... Thanks acl.

forgot to bid

$1.05B upfront from Amex. Yum.

jkengberg

Needs to translate into more than an "attaboy" in our next contract.

DAL4EVER

That's what ACL is referring to. We gave them the tools to go pull this off and I expect us to be paid pack as a result. Hopefully that when we start negotiations, the world economy has gotten through this mess and we can negotiate solid gains and begin the restoration on what was lost the last seven years.

forgot to bid

Aviationweek (12/10):

Delta does not need to place any new aircraft orders to take advantage of its expanded network and has no immediate plans to replace its 114 MD-88 aircraft in spite of their relatively low fuel efficiency, the airline’s leaders said at Delta’s Investor Day conference Dec. 9.

Delta also remained coy about the future of its 787 orders, which it inherited from Northwest. Glen Hauenstein, executive VP for revenue planning and network management, noted Northwest needed the 787 to replace all of its 747-400s but Delta has 777s in its fleet that it can use. Delta already previously intimated it could trim Northwest’s order (DAILY, Sept. 26 and Dec. 2).

Regarding the 114 MD-88 aircraft now in the fleet, Delta President Ed Bastian said the airline has no immediate plans to replace them even though, on the basis of fuel burn alone, Delta would save $1.1 million per aircraft if it replaced them with new Boeing B737-800 aircraft.

The reason, Bastian said, it that the fuel inefficiencies are more than offset by a $3.5 million ownership cost advantage per aircraft that each owned MD-88s would have over a newly purchased 737.

Depreciated aircraft such as Delta’s MD-88s and 757s, also give it the ability to park the capacity and take costs out of its system, Delta’s leaders noted.

Delta also does not appear to be planning any immediate actions to simplify its fleet. CEO Richard Anderson said simplification will be its “ultimate goal,” but he and other Delta leaders spent the day extolling the advantage of the fleet diversity to “right-size” the aircraft with the various markets.

Editor's note: This story was fixed after first posted to correct figures in the third and fourth paragraphs.

capncrunch

You may have kept the Delta name but you got NWA management. They will milk the paid for aircraft like nothing you've seen before. It's like squeezing blood from a stone with these guys. But in a good way, it's the reason NWA was smaller and financially better off.

forgot to bid

It's smart, be opportunistic about acquiring new aircraft and running old ones until the costs outweigh the $3.8M benefit. I remember being envious when after 9/11 that NWA owned their airplanes while Continental leased them, thus that wonderful announcement CAL would let go 10,000 immediately.

Too bad putting new avionics in the 88/9 and new engines on them is so prohibitive. I know the 767/757 has a pretty nice avionics upgrade with IS&S:
Innovative Solutions&Support

It'd be cool if you could turn a 9 into a 717. OR... just buy some 717s. I know its not as efficient as a 737 but its all about the acquisition price right? Anyways, not my idea.

forgot to bid

As expected, 767s to Asia via 12/9 DOT filing:

Pursuant to Subpart C of the Department’s Rules of Practice in Proceedings, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (“Delta”), a designated non-incumbent carrier under the U.S.-Japan Air Transport Services Agreement, hereby applies for an allocation of frequencies to operate nonstop combination service on the following routes:

• Portland-Tokyo - 7 frequencies
• Guam-Tokyo – 7 frequencies
• Honolulu-Tokyo – 7 frequencies

On or about June 1, 2009, Delta plans to replace Northwest as the operating carriers on the above-named routes. This will better enable the two carriers to align capacity with demand. Delta will operate 221-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, in lieu of the 243 seat Airbus A-330-200 aircraft currently operated by Northwest. Northwest may remain a marketing carrier on some or all of the routes by utilizing a portion of Delta’s and Northwest’s existing allocation of U.S.-Japan same-country codeshare frequencies. The change in operating carriers is tentatively scheduled for June 1; however, some of these services could be transitioned as early as the beginning of the March 28, 2009 IATA Summer Season. Delta requests that any startup or dormancy condition run from June 1, 2009.

8CherryGarcia

I got royally screwed!!! I lost over 23,000+ numbers!!!!!!

we are talking about the new employee numbers, right?

seriously, I stayed relative, and "lose" a little relativity in then next 25 years as a junior red tail guy....

BUT...hoping that a new energy and ability as the worlds biggest airline will offset any perceived "loss".

And getting a little piece of "Red Tail" in the mail today helped the attitude a little...no need to completely dispense of the heritage...it's all part of the mix.

I think we will fit in pretty well, and I think y'all will like what we bring to the party.


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