Latest rumor to come out of Council 44 was a hiring freeze for 08. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

 

Wouldn't be a very good rumor if it could be confirmed or denied. Good rumors take on a life of their own and are hard to squash.

 

Usually a hiring freeze leads to that nasty old "F" word. I hope that those recently signe on with DAL, in good faith, don't find themselves looking for another job... or regretting not taking the job with viable carrier.

Good luck to the guys and gals at DAL.

 

I talked to the Chief Pilot's office last week about this very issue. They reiterated that the staffing freeze is for NON-productive positions, ie. analyst, clerks, etc. With the aircraft deliveries and international expansion next year they are still planning on 600-700 new pilot positions. I believe Kennedy alone is adding 14 new overseas routes by summer. All with 3 and 4 man cockpits. This, coupled with the 737s, additional 757s and new 777s will all result in growth.

I agree, I was alarmed when I first saw the headlines on this but upon further review and investigation it looks like front line positions are going to be okay.

 

Counsel 44 held their LEC meeting on Friday December 7th and Lee Moak specifically said that hiring for 08 had NOT been effected by fuel prices and the plan was still to hire "600 to 1,000" or something like that. In other words, no changes to what has been written on this board.

The LEC/MEC can not really do anything about fuel. It seems they are preparing for consolidation - in the event something does happen, they want to be fully prepared. Right now their projections do not show furloughs with any of the partners Delta might get paired with.

Given current events, I think the prognosis for Delta new hires is good.

 

Bucking Bar,

Were you able to attend the counsel 44 meeting? I was not able to as my wife was having a procedure done. I am trying to find out more info on what was discussed specifically any merger preparations, etc., the MEC was reviewing and any strategic options they were considering.

I would greatly appreciate any info you may have as I've not seen anything on the DALPA site. Thanks. You can PM me if you would prefer.

 

Having gone through two aquisitions(NorthEast, remains of Pan Am) and a merger (Western) during my time at Delta, I can tell you that about all you are gonna get are rumors. The MEC will play any plans as "Top Secret" until it happens. Anything that they tell you or anyone else is as good as publishing it on the bulletin board. This is a negotiating tactic. Hang on..you are in for an interesting ride...

 

DALPA does not have anything to hide, for now. Roll inverted is correct if anything does start cooking.

What was presented on the 7th was a candid assessment of the motivation and effect of the hedge funds, the importance of MEC's and pilots' engagement, as well as our industry's current economic issues. The APA is at bat right now, as is AirTran and other pilot groups. Obviously those negotiations effect us.

If consolidation begins (which it might not simply because mergers have a bad track record and US Air is not going particularly well) then Delta will likely be a player because of its size and the fact that Delta is unrestrained by any of the "golden share" issues with NorthWest, or CAL.

Engagement is critical and the Delta MEC wants to be the best prepared, with a up and running, funded, merger committee.

So no real news, but a good explanation of how dues money is being used and assurance that we will have on our hands on the controls if the ride, as Roll Inverted says, "gets interesting."

 

For what it's worth, here is the latest from the horse's mouth on the subject. Although he doesn't specify what RJ's are being removed.


December 10, 2007


Richard Anderson reaffirmed that we still expect to see profit sharing payouts early next year despite the impact of high fuel prices on our fourth quarter financial performance. In his weekly Right from Richard employee update, he said we expect profit sharing payments to be made in mid-February.
“We will still have a good profit sharing payout,” Richard said. “It is scheduled for Feb. 14. We have been accruing for profit sharing each quarter, and it’s based in the full-year performance, not one individual quarter. We may lose money in the fourth quarter, principally because of fuel, but that won’t affect our ability to still pay out a profit sharing check on Feb. 14.”
Richard also recapped comments that Ed Bastian, president and CFO, made last week, laying out some of the steps we’re taking in the face of record high fuel prices.
“We’re taking a proactive response to high fuel costs by making strategic domestic capacity reductions,” Richard said. “We’re going to take about 35 regional jets out of the schedule. We’re going to be very mindful of our capital spending and we’re going to be very careful about hiring overhead positions in the corporate headquarters. We’re not going to have layoffs. [Higher costs] will cause us to not hire as many people as we were going to hire, and as people leave the company through attrition, we won’t be backfilling in the noncustomer-facing positions. Our goal is to be certain that our airline stay profitable and that you have a secure place to work.”

 

There ya go, reduce jobs, not increase fares................