Despite the name calling and a few gung ho new guys who are happy to fly anything, Ralphi is correct concerning the future of the bottom 1000 DAL guys. The bottom 400 NW guys were on the ropes with an upcoming furlough vs. the bottom DAL pilots who looked forward to hiring additional pilots.

Ralphi is just venting a legitimate gripe that the bottom DAL pilots have. Is there anything we can do about it, NO, and Ralphi knows that.

I think it is just somewhat depressing knowing that the vast majority of Jr NW guys will either remain in the same position or be able to upgrade to bigger and better paying DAL aircraft, while the vast majority of Jr DAL pilots can look forward to either being furloughed as a result of the 9 and 200 going away or simply being displaced to lower paying or less desirable equipment as they move aircraft around. Yes it just happened in CVG but not near to the scale that is fixing to take place in the upcoming years.

I have talked to many NW friends and every one of them does admit, all be it grudgingly that the northwest pilot group has been saved a furlough and that the bottom half of their list has tremendous upside potential given the aircraft and bases DAL brought to the merger. Yes the 9 may be a great aircraft and fun to fly and have great layovers but I have yet to see a single NW guy post and say those darn DAL guys I am going to get bumped off the 9 and they are going to make me fly the 767 or the 737-800 for more money. I think it is safe to say that ultimately the NW guys will displace a far more DAL pilots out of there bases and equipment than vise versa. Once again there may be DAL guys that want to move to Detroit or MSP. I think we have about 21 guys that live up in that area and are very excited about the opportunity to bid those bases.
So let Ralphi gripe, ultimately he is correct regarding the future of the Jr DAL pilots.

As far as the longevity of the 9…. Treasure or not… I think given the economy and upcoming flying reduction it is pretty safe to say that we will see a fair amount of the DC9’s go away in the next 18 months and however many furloughs go along with them. I hope I am wrong.

I could be wrong, but I'll throw this out there anyway.

If one is displaced and wants to be re-instated, I believe there is a separate menu that specifically addresses that you want to be re-instated. In other words, you don't just put in another advance entitlement or you will be just like the rest of us when the bid is run.

Denny

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's biggest carrier, will offer voluntary severance payouts to a majority of the 75,000 employees at Delta and Northwest's mainline operations as part of a plan to cut an unspecified number of jobs, executives said Friday.

Chief Executive Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian said in a memo to employees that the program is similar to one earlier this year that Delta used to trim about 4,000 jobs. Northwest previously trimmed jobs of its own before being acquired by Delta on Oct. 29.

The executives said the cuts are necessary because Delta will be reducing systemwide capacity in 2009 by 6 percent to 8 percent because the weak economy has eroded demand for seats on airplanes.

"These capacity reductions will reduce the number of people needed to operate the airline," the executives said. "Consistent with how we have managed headcount reductions in the past, we again will offer voluntary programs to Delta employees including those who have joined from Northwest."

While the company did not say how many jobs it is seeking to cut, it said its goal is to achieve all necessary reductions through attrition, limited hiring and the introduction of the voluntary severance programs. Spokeswoman Betsy Talton said the majority of mainline employees are eligible to apply for the severance payouts, though she could not provide a specific number.

Delta and Northwest's mainline operations include 75,000 employees. The entire company, including regional subsidiaries Comair, Mesaba and Compass, has about 85,000 employees. The 12,000 pilots of Delta and Northwest and certain management and administrative employees are not eligible for the voluntary severance programs.

The voluntary severance programs, to be offered in January, include one for employees with 10 or more completed years of service, whose completed years of age and service add up to at least 55. The second program is an early-out program that will be offered to those employees who do not qualify for the first program but who are frontline/contract ground and flight attendant employees with five or more years of service and merit/salaried employees hired before the first of next year.

Delta hinted Dec. 2 at an investor conference that more job cuts could be on the way as it disclosed its capacity reduction plans for 2009. Domestic capacity in 2009 will be reduced 8 percent to 10 percent compared to 2008, while international capacity will be reduced 3 percent to 5 percent next year compared to this year.

Shares of Delta added 53 cents, or 5.3 percent, to close at $10.50.



I think it will be hard not to furlough when you are cutting capacity by 12 to 15%. Maybe we will just be really over staffed and not get called out on reserve.

Daldude,

Go read the award again. If we were to park ALL the 9s tomorrow, those furloughs would come from premerger NWA guys OUT OF SENIORITY. Conversley, if they park all the MDs, then you guys would take that hit. The only plane that carries a 1 for 1 furlough is the 757.

Now, being bumped out of a 767 and the money that goes with it? Don't know, I see your point as that will be a big pay hit. But I would suggest that is more of a function of where the COMPANY moves the flying around. This industry is a wild ride, 9/11, SARs, oil, mergers.........senior is better, don't know what else to tell ya. Guess there has to be one advantage to getting older and not getting the chicks ya used to get.:D

Your Uncle Ferd

Well, let's see. I just went and reread it--"I WILL NOT lose 20+ years of my life whining about how I got screwed by the merger. You might want to consider doing the same." No, you never quoted me directly, but you sure as hell implied it. Nice try though.

And I never insulted your intelligence, just questioned it a bit in hopes of prodding you into clarifying some of your assumptions. How about this, I'll believe you weren't implying I was a whiner who thinks he got screwed if you believe me when I say I think you're very intelligent.:D

Peace, my new, senior Delta brotha.

Pay protection does not provide base protection. If pilots hold their current jet with a commute & reserve it will be the Company's excuse not to pay protect very many people.

The very fact NWA pilots are on every board shopping for what upgrades they can hold and DAL pilots are sincerely worried about displacements tell us this was not a award that provided status quo.

How did that NWA guy describe Delta pilots?
Well, well. The man has a point.

We will see how the displacements go. I'm hoping Delta offers a voluntary leave or furlough. If you notice all the NWA furlough bypass pilots ... apparently they don't want to commute to a DC9 gig either ... why should it be forced on a Delta pilot?

Peace... sure, we're sheeple. show up do the job and eat the grass. If the grass tastes like crap, move to another pasture.

Deleted because everything I'm arguing is water under the bridge. For ANYBODY that ends up displaced, I'm sorry. It flat out stinks. I hope at the very least you can stay in your base of choice.

Happy Holidays

From the information that I just got late this last week, everyone needs to chill. We are going to be 360 pilots or so fat this next spring. With it being that few, DAL has decided not to furlough anyone. Yep, that is what I was told. Now if they need to park more than the 20 or so jets that they are going to "temporary park," then yes, we will see people hitting the street.
The jets that are going to be parked are from the pre merger DAL. 7ER's and 757's is what I am told. Now the 757 could conceivably be NWA too.
Displacements are coming, and a lot of them, but until they change their minds everyone at mainline will have a mainline job. Enjoy. (I smell early outs for NWA guys!)

Man I buried this info in the DAL Displacements post last night and no one ran with it.

That's not really good news. Why are they parking the most efficient jet in the fleet?