Johnso, of course it's all cyclical. That's the darn problem.
Richard and Ed are on record ad-nauseum trying to break the cycle.

Capacity discipline is a tool to attempt to bring unit revenue up.
A downside is a rise in unit cost, because there is less production.
If other airlines also follow suit, that unit cost rise isn't a problem.

When other airlines don't follow suit, Delta sees unit cost rise vs its peers.

What troubles me is we are seeing just that with AS. They are growing twice as fast as we are shrinking.
Their unit cost is going down and their stock valuation has shown no signs of investor dissatisfaction.

When openers are exchanged watch for the slide showing how Delta's unit cost has gone up YOY and how we must bring production cost under control. That's when its important to remember this metric:

Pilot cost of production:
ASM per each Dollar spent on pilot compensation
2010
DAL 93
AS 83
HI 112
(Source: US DOT Form 41, Schedules T2 & P52.)

Lots of training = less productivity/pilot $
Widebodies = more productivity/pilot $

There is about a 30% improvement possible when we stop playing musical chairs
That's where the company can significantly improve on cost.
Just 2 years ago DAL was getting 121 ASMs/Dollar of pilot compensation.

BTW, Delta pilots, even at 93 ASMs/$, are still 30% lower in cost than their peers at WN who stand at 70 ASMs/$ pilot compensation. Fact is, WN gets less production out of their pilot dollars than Delta.

Sure, fill out the survey, talk to your reps.
Being informed is even more important.

Cheers
George

 

[QUOTE=scambo1;1068235]I thought Forrest Gump was filmed in Greenbow Al a bama.

There is no Greenbow Alabama. There`s Greenville and Greensboro however. Just a made up town. Sounds like an Alabama town, doesn`t it?

 

Retired Delta pilots filing appeal over pensions

A group of more than 6,000 retired Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots reported Wednesday an appeal set to be filed with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to get back $600 million in pension benefits they say were lost during Delta’s bankruptcy in 2005.

The appeal, set to be filed on Oct. 28 by the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Miller & Chevalier Chartered, will challenge the rules the PGBC applied when calculating final benefits for more than 3,500 retired Delta (NYSE: DAL) pilots. The pilots argue PBGC's internal procedures artificially cut retired Delta pilots' benefits by an $600 million, or an average loss of $1,200 a month for affected pilots.

The PBGC assumed roughly $2 billion in assets from the Delta Pilots Pension Plan in 2006 following Delta's bankruptcy filing and the bankruptcy court approved termination of its pilot pension plan. The PBGC also recovered at least $1.28 billion from Delta during the airline's bankruptcy proceedings.

However, due to procedures designed to artificially reduce the earned and funded benefits of retirees, the PBGC is currently shortchanging thousands of retirees, the retired pilots claim. They said five years after the termination of the pension plan, the PBGC still has not calculated the benefits for hundreds of retired Delta pilots.

Retired Delta pilots filing appeal over pensions - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

This is about the biggest problem with DALPA that I have. They seem to have the same attitude "Don't worry about ALK, they are helping us not hurting us. There is no reason to think they will begin an East Cost operation." I have had this conversation with a former LEC rep.

Why couldn't Alaska start some east cost flying using 50% Delta passengers to help fill up their flights. What is to stop ALK from making BOS a "focus" city flying Florida routes code sharing with Delta?

Your feelings about ALKs chances of coming to the East Cost will do us little good once/if it happens. Once it's done we will be told that it would be impossible to undo and cost to much bargaining power not to mention that it's good for Delta pilots because we can't compete on those routes anyway.

 

THAT just happened!

And since we supposedly don't get revenue from AK flights, when we add that into the equation the company should have a big problem explaining why AK can do 9X a day from Delta domicile to Delta domicile (LAX-SEA) while we do zero, or 2X a day Delta Domicile to Major Delta focus city (SEA-BOS) while we do zero and many other examples of extreme code share abuse.

 

Any better ones than these? Add away:

Detroit - Detoilet
Minneapolis - Minnie-Hopeless //// Minne- noplace
LaGuardia - LaGarbage
Newark - Manuark /// Sewark
O'Hare - O'Scare
Midway - Skidway
Memphis - Memphysema
Atlanta - Mylanta /// Hotlanta
Gatwick - Catlick
Los Angeles - Smell-A
Dallas/Fort Worth - Dallas/Fort Worthless /// Dee Doub (D-W)
Dallas/Fort Worth - D F'in W
Tampa - Dumpa
New Orleans - The Big Sleazy
Nashville - Trash Fill /// Bananna (airport identifier is BNA)
Pittsburgh - The Pits /// ****sburgh
Las Vegas - Lost Wages
Saskatoon - Sassy Tuna
Fort Walton Beach - Wally World
Charleston - Charley west (west virginia) Charley South (South Carolina)
Augusta - Disgusta
Chattanooga - Chat a vegas

 

Unregard................

 

Charleston (SC) = Chucktown
McGuire AFB (NJ) = McGoo or Quagmire
Pope AFB (NC) = No Hope Pope
Livonia, MI = La-Bone-Ya

 

Beaumont TX = Blowmont
Norfolk = Norfolk. do you pronounce your folks with a u or i?

 

XNA/Fayetville = Fay-et-nham