NWA320pilot

A friend attended a meeting this week in which Ed Bastian spoke and had a Q&A period. Here are a few of the highlights.

• DC9's will be at the new Delta for 5-6 more years.
• DAL looking for a 100 seat aircraft that will be flown by mainline pilots. Waiting to see what Boeing and Airbus bring to the table, also considering Embraer and Canadair.
• DAL will be changing the way they do business with its regional partners. No more just paying a set fee to operate flights, they will have to turn a profit on their own, DAL will not gaurantee them one!
• 50 seat regional aircraft will be decreased significantly.
• Cargo operation lost about $1.5 last year due to the high cost of fuel. It needs to be profitable but with fuel pricing at current levels we are re-evaluating its future.
• DAL loves MD90's, normal acquisition cost is around $8M. They would like to acquire additional airframes if they can find them.
• DAL is NOT looking to convert 787 order to 777. Boeing will owe us for the 787 delays. The 787-800 isn't our favorite we really like the 787-900 so we may able to get the -800 first and then trade in for -900.
• DFW base is not going to happen.

acl65pilot

No kidding on the DFW base.

FWIW the DC-9's will be here for five to six years today. See what they say after SLI.
I say three years tops.

BigGuns

These are all in line with what Delta has been saying for the last year. No real new news here...

BigGuns

I agree with that!!

NWA320pilot

Gotta love you guys...... CEO of a company has a meeting with pilots and says one thing but you guys say what he says is BS (DC9 gone in 3 years). Also how many places have I seen the 787 order is going to be converted to 777?

DAL4EVER

Not all orders converted, just some. Look for the 777-300 as a prize of the strike. Also, aside from the SLI arguments, who cares if we get 777s or 787s. As long as there are widebody airplanes coming I don't care what number the model is.

newKnow

I really don't underrstand why you guys hate the DC-9 so much. Basically, the man just said that they were holding on to the -9's because they were waiting for a 100 seat replacement so mainline pilots could fly them. This is good news for not only DAL pilots-- old and new-- but also for the mainline/legacy pilots of ALL airlines. Yet, you agree with the airframes being gone in 3 years, as if you are looking forward to it.

I'm not even going to repeat my argument that we as mainline pilots need to be fighting to keep mainline jobs. Mostly, because I don't think it really matters to either one of you that it is best for us as to keep the DC-9's until they get a 100 seat replacement. A rumor that DAL will keep the 9's until they find a replacement is good news for US as a pilot group.

It says a lot about both of you that you would interject YOUR opinions that they would do something that might help you in the SLI process --but overall harm this pilot group-- rather than celebrate a rumor that would be beneficial to us all.

Now that we are officially on the same team, we need to be advocating and celebrating any and all growth and maintinence of flying at mainline Delta Air Lines. This includes little airplanes as well as big ones.

New K Now

Xray678

I agree. And I have no problem with the -9. Have flown it in the past and I loved it.

Airplanes at the mainline is a good thing. RJs going away is a good thing. The regionals having to pay their own way instead of getting a free ride is a great thing!

Thanks for the info.

DAL4EVER

Amen to that.

Squawk_5543

Best meeting highlight I've heard in a while.....the way it should be.