Looks like Delta's at it again. Crushing another 4k employees!

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delta Air Lines is shutting down its subsidiary that does ground handling and customer service for its regional carrier flights.
The subsidiary, Regional Elite Airline Services, has about 4,000 employees around the country, though none are in Georgia. Its operations will be taken over by the end of the year by other companies — including another subsidiary, Delta Global Services — which Delta expects will have job opportunities at the same locations for the "vast majority" of workers.
Delta does not expect the move to affect its flight operations.
Although Regional Elite is a Delta subsidiary, it competes against other firms for contracts from Delta. According to a memo to employees from Regional Elite Senior Vice President Don Stephens, Regional Elite's cost structure "kept us from effectively competing," and it recently lost out on work at most locations.
"With very limited opportunities to maintain or grow our business, we will not be a viable company moving forward," Stephens wrote.
"It is a reflection of the current state of the airline industry," Stephens wrote, adding that carriers such as Delta "face incredible cost pressures."
Minneapolis-based Regional Elite was a 2009 spinoff of customer service workers from Delta's regional carrier subsidiaries at the time — Comair and merger partner Northwest's subsidiaries Mesaba and Compass. Delta has since sold Mesaba and Compass and recently decided to shut down Comair.

 

I was in AZO the day the RE employees found out the news last week. They said they have 20 people working for RE and will only have 6 opening which American Eagle will take over. out of those 4K employees, who knows how many will get a spot with DGS or another company.

 

So lemme see if I got this right...delta shuts down one subsidiary. transfers the jobs to another subsidiary. and more than likely pays those people considerably less to do the same job for the same company. am i right?

 

Yup.

10char

 

Why not? does the subsidiary have a binding union contract?? OK. then what's stopping Delta from shutting them down and transferring the jobs??

 

Pretty much sums it up...welcome to a free market. It's not like aviation is the only industry does this... Ever worked with DOD contractors? Same dudes working, but their company name changes almost every year, as some other company underbids the previous.

 

Not always.. out in Cali, SkyWest lost many stations it had operated for years (some decades) to AEagel. Everyone was upset, but the ones who were picked up were happy to find Eagle provided some benifits which were superior to SW. Including flight passes on day 1.

My understanding is DGS, DE, etc were all part time, no flight benifits, limited health care. How is this more expensive than AE? Doesn't add up.

Either way, its terrible that companies "reset" these workers on a regular basis... there should be more pressure from the public about this, instead we are all pretending we are the next in line to be the 1%...

 

As long as someone works for a subcontractor, this is their fate. Doesn't matter if it's flying planes, slinging bags, pouring concrete, making donuts. If your paycheck doesn't have the same name as the company you are doing work for, you are one underbid contract away from losing your job.

 

And what will likely happen is that when this new subsidiary gets "too expensive" in the future, Delta will shut it down and transfer the work to another subsidiary or outsource it all again and simply tell everyone to reapply.

Instant year 1 wages for everyone!!!

 

Unable to compete, on 3rd year pay. Amazing.