Job security won't exist in this industry until Dec 2012 when the old guys start to retire again. If we had guys retiring right now, we would be hiring. Age 65 is much worse for us than a bad economy and high fuel prices IMO.

I disagree with you on this and I'm an '01 hire who has everything to gain off retirements. Age 65 sucks, no two ways about it, but its hardly worse than an economy that's so bad that DAL can't finance new jets for decent prices and it hardly compares to fuel bills that are billions more than forecast. A vibrant economy with access to capital for new purchases and low oil prices will be far more valuable to us than 200 guys retiring.

Agreed, but you can not run your business hoping for low oil prices.

And they are not. It has been stated by the CFO that DAL would like to stop this hedging game. They would prefer that the fuel is added as a surcharge to the price of the ticket much as everything else is.

I think the age 65 rule froze the industry for 5 years. That being said once 2012 comes and goes, the whole age 65 rule will just be a memory.

In the long run, it's adding 5 years to everyone's' career any way you look at it. (Bearing everyone wants to work until age 65)

And for those on the bottom those extra five years are worthless, but you know it is water under the bridge, and people need to realize this.
I think that Washington has bigger fish to worry about than placating a bunch of irritated pilots.

Well with all the bad news going around, here is a little bit of good news. Another new airplane joined the fleet today.

Delta Air Lines N307DQ on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



I think someone photoshopped the Widget on the GO, but still, it is a nice pic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/n701dn/...n/photostream/

I guarantee your paycheck will not be as "worthless" then as it is now. If you don't need the cash, please feel free to send it to me. My wife wants more purses and shoes and more room to put all that crap. She does not understand that one pair of black uniform shoes works for flying, going to church, working in the yard, her Company Christmas Party, playing golf, going to dinner, working on my cars and going to the beach.

I don't want to work to 65, but by then, the left seat and a good schedule for easily three to four times my current earnings sounds like a gig that would be hard to walk away from.

I know we announced 6-8 percent capcity cut but this is the first time I have seen 50 MAINLINE jets leaving. Is that even more airplanes than before? I assume that is both at Delta and NWA, correct??

"Delta said today it will remove 40 to 50 of its mainline jets from the fleet in 2009 as it trims seating capacity by 6 percent to 8 percent. The company said it will “monitor the demand environment” and can cut more deeply if warranted. "






Delta Air Tumbles Most in 4 Months After Loss Exceeds Estimates
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By Mary Jane Credeur

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, fell the most in four months in New York trading after posting a fourth-quarter loss that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Excluding one-time costs for fuel hedges and stock grants related to buying Northwest Airlines, the loss was $340 million, or 50 cents a share, Delta said today in a statement. Revenue was $6.71 billion, which also trailed some projections.

Delta’s contracts to purchase jet fuel in advance became a drag on results after market prices plunged 63 percent in 2008’s second half, leaving the airline locked in at higher rates. For 2009, Delta plans to cut available seats by as much as 8 percent to weather a drop in travel from the recession.

“They were light on revenue, fuel hedges ate into things and they’re seeing pressure on traffic like everybody else,” said Helane Becker, an analyst at Jesup & Lamont in New York who recommends buying the shares. She estimated sales at $7 billion.

Delta’s net loss was $1.44 billion, or $2.11 a share. That compared with a year-earlier loss of $70 million, or 18 cents, when Atlanta-based Delta was a standalone company.

Ray Neidl, a Calyon Securities analyst in New York, said the deficit was 38 cents a share after subtracting costs for purchase accounting related to the Northwest merger, wider than his 25-cent estimate. The average loss estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 32 cents a share, without the one-time expenses.

Shares Tumble

Delta plunged $2.14, or 22 percent, to $7.79 at 10:11 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares touched $7.50 earlier for their biggest intraday decline since Sept. 8.

The one-time expenses included $969 million in stock grants for employees and merger-related costs; $91 million for adjusting the value of fuel hedges; and $38 million in other costs, Delta said.

Delta’s combined fuel bill for the quarter was $2.29 billion. That included $507 million in fuel-hedge contract losses that settled in the fourth quarter, the carrier said. Delta had to post $1.1 billion in collateral on outstanding hedges.

Cash and short-term investments totaled $4.47 billion at the end of the quarter, excluding $453 million in restricted funds, Delta said.

Combined traffic for Delta and Northwest, measured by miles flown by paying passengers, slid 2.7 percent from a year earlier while the number of available seats declined 3.8 percent as the airlines parked some jets and trimmed flights.

Cutting Flights

Delta said today it will remove 40 to 50 of its mainline jets from the fleet in 2009 as it trims seating capacity by 6 percent to 8 percent. The company said it will “monitor the demand environment” and can cut more deeply if warranted.

Because of the pullback, Delta plans to eliminate another 2,000 jobs through voluntary buyouts, Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said in an interview in Tokyo on Jan. 15.

Delta today forecast an operating margin of 6 percent to 8 percent for all of 2009. Passenger unit revenue will drop by about 4 percent.

“Despite the difficult economic environment, we expect to be solidly profitable in 2009, driven by lower fuel costs, capacity discipline and merger synergies,” Anderson said in the statement.

Delta surpassed AMR Corp.’s American Airlines as the world’s largest carrier by traffic with its acquisition of Northwest Airlines Corp. in an all-stock deal in October. The combined company kept Delta’s name.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at [email protected].

Last Updated: January 27, 2009 10:19 EST

Those jets are announced nothing new.

Notice the RJ cuts are absent. ????