Delta will seek Ch. 11 bankruptcy if cannot cut costs

[cal04]

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Delta Air Lines (DAL) , in one of its strongest worded statements to date, warned Monday it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if it cannot lower its costs. "If we cannot make substantial progress in the near term toward achieving a competitive cost structure ... we will need to seek to restructure our costs under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code," Delta said in its quarterly securities filing. Atlanta-based Delta, the nation's third largest airline, first raised the possibility of bankruptcy at the end of the first quarter. In its latest 10-Q, Delta also said its $2 billion of cash reserves will continue to dwindle. It further said it cannot raise capital on reasonable terms. Shares of Delta traded down 6 cents to $4.05.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?guid={5B342077-CC59-46AC-8466-C880CA0CC7C5}&siteid=mktw

[Bowline]

1. Those who cannot compete, die. n/t

[KittyWampus]

4. Or Get Government Subsidies

Nationalize the bastards. We've already put enough tax dollars into the Airline Industry.

[Bowline]

6. Nah, let 'em die.

I don't feel one bit sorry for the bastards. They've screwed the public for years. Payback is a bitch!

[RobinA]

8. Does It Occur

to you that thousands of PEOPLE work for this airline, many of them maybe facing lay-off? People who need their jobs to put food on the table? Airlines are not just CEOs and other high-priced suits.

[llmart]

9. We can feel sorry for those who may lose their jobs....

but what is it going to take for the working class in this country to rise up en masse against these criminal CEO's and upper management types? Study the history of the labor movement in this country and you'll see that there is power in numbers. There are more of us than them and until we ban together and stop this looting of our companies, maybe we get what we deserve. Everyone's afraid to put their job on the line. Well, many people of past generations did have the courage to put their jobs on the line to fight for what was right. As my paternal grandfather used to say (he fought for labor rights), "talk is cheap."

[RobinA]

16. I Am Well Aware

of the history of organized labor in this country. I'm also aware that the the number of bargaining unit employees as a percent of the workforce in this country is dropping.

It's also true that Delta (including the workers, excepting only the pilots) used to pride themselves on the fact that they were non-union. A lot of good that has done them now that they find themselves in the same leaky life raft as their union non-brothers at USAir. Conversely, of course, one could note the the non-union Deltians are no worse off than the union members at USAir.

I don't know what it will take for people to "get it" when it comes to corporate rip-offs. Maybe the same bolt of lightening to the brain that finally convinces them that the President is a lying idiot. I'm not seeing any evidence of it happening any time soon.

[llmart]

18. I'm not optimistic either.

I don't see the younger generation being willing to fight for anything beyond their own selfish interests.

Regarding the decline in union membership - it's because the employees allow the corporations to intimidate them into not unionizing. I just read an article about Ford engineers talking about unionizing. All the comments made by those in favor are "anonymous." Too afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation. And the Wal-Mart employees here in Michigan who voted a union down were afraid for their jobs too. The workers need to stick together. They can't fire all the Ford engineers, now can they? But, alas, we live in a country where fear and intimidation are the order of the day.

[Puglover]

20. What tax dollars are you talking about?

Be specific. When the government offered low interest loans after 9/11 the only money my company (NWA) took was money to help beef up security.

[Warpy]

2. I don't see the CEO taking a serious pay cut

Until that happens, don't expect concessions from anybody who works for a living.

[Jacobin]

3. The last few times I flew on Delta, the service was ghastly

Extremely rude people from check-in pricks to the dingbats on the plane.

They managed to lose a bag on a non-stop flight. They were assholes about getting it sent to my hotel when they finally tracked it down.

I don't know why anyone would fly Delta if they had a choice.

I won't fly them again.

[Catfight]

7. Oh crap, I just booked an August flight and a Sept. flight with Delta.

[demoman123]

11. The international service is good, but the domestic flights are horrible.

Sorry to confirm this.

[amazona]

15. don't stress, there are issues with all airlines but you'll be OK

Airlines threaten or actually declare bankruptcy all the time. It's part of their business model -- in this way, they can pay employees less and they can pay their creditors little or nothing at all. But, somehow, they keep on flying. I have a friend who is a Delta frequent flyer and he has flown tons of domestic flights on Delta this year, and he's fine. "Stuff" happens on ALL airlines. You can minimize lost bags by packing one carry-on sized bag if you like, otherwise don't stress it. I've taken many Delta flights, most without incident and usually on time.

[hughee99]

22. I agree

How is Delta going to cut costs. Can they pay their employees less for the awful service they provide? I have unfortunately flown Delta 3 times in the last 3 years, and all have been awful experiences. The employees I have dealt with have been unhelpful at best and rude and condescending at worst. In the 3 trips, I have never arrived at my destination within an hour of the expected time, have been rerouted 1 time, and I stopped checking baggage with them after the second trip when they lost my second bag in 2 flights. Unfortunately, I don't always get to book my own travel, which is why I've flown 3 times rather than just once.

[bleedingheart]

5. Perhaps a better airline will emerge from its ashes

USAirways is headed in the same direction...concessions from employees and platinum parachutes for their CEOs...it is all disgusting

[sleipnir]

10. Bye, bye Delta.

They just took a billion dollar loss, reported recently. I feel sorry for the hundred thousand or so people who will be out of a job when Delta goes away. But, there will always be a better company to take it's place. Like JetBlue or Independence Air. The thing with those companies is that they only fly to and from highly profitable locations. If this becomes the trend, only certain parts of America will have regular, decent priced airfares.

[mumon]

12. Delta has deep structural problems...

When airlines went to "hub and spoke" systems, and took over other airlines, they had large fleets with disparate numbers of aircraft.

Delta's business model's fundamentally flawed, like that of other large carriers.

But the good news: United's service improved markedly when they went to Chapter 11; maybe Delta's flight attendants will be nicer.

[RobinA]

17. Yeah, But....

Delta used to BE the "better company." Now it's just another airline teetering on the edge of bankruptcy

[mac56]

13. Outsource the CEOs.

Certainly there are economically savvy people in India and China and the Bahamas who could work as CEOs at a fraction of the cost.

[Parche]

14. airlines

Throughout the years the airlines were worried and always working
on "market share" never once making the system user friendly
They have thousands of fares, for different cities, when all
they need are a few
There fare rules and other rules are so backward, its a wonder
the have survived this long
Being in the travel business I see this crap everyday
it is very frustrating
Southwest and Jet Blue and a few others like Spirit are
profiting a lot, and they all run simple airlines.
I have no sympathy for the big airlines, I dont want to see
the workers unemployed, but they have screwed up themselves

[Puglover]

19. Here you go again Parche.

How EXACTLY have the big airlines screwed themselves/ I've worked for NWA for 25 years and it has always been a very conservative and well run company...
We have about 450 dept a day and around 40k employees....
UAL has only around 100 more dept a day then us and has around 70k emp who BTW in BANKRUPTCY make more then we do. Now I agree, that kind of crap is bullshit.
Im so fucking sick and tired of you people crowing about Jet Blue and Southwest. It's really not all that tough to cherry pick profitable routes and run them with no problem. On Northwest you can fly from Fargo ND to Bangkok with TWO stops. A little more complex. When I started in 1979 a supersaver Chicago Tampa cost about 298.00 CHEAPEST!
Now 25 years later it can be had around 198.00. Fuel is at an all time high and passengers wonder why they don't get hors dourves in coach before take off. :eyes:
I havent had more then a 2 percent raise since 1989 and dont expect one anytime soon and I KNOW that our CEO is one of the lowest paid in the industry.
We aren't Enron so I wish you people would do some research and know what your talking about before you start clapping your hands over pending bankrupcies.

[Parche]

25. dont hurt the messenger

What side of the plane did you wake up today?

I am in the travel business also, and I never berate the workers
All I say is that they have unsimplified fare rules that make it
hard to sell, they have thousands of fares for one city pair, when
they could have 2 or 3 and simplify it
I was not talking about NW airlines, they seem to be pretty well
run.
You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder
Southwest and Jetblue are 2 very well run and profitable airlines
Southwest being profitable every year since it started
United for example has 2flights from differents cities to the same
destination within minutes of each other, is that anyway to run an
airline
Delta gave the store to its pilots
Now I am all for high pay and wages, but that is way to much
Those 2airlines dont know how to compete with the world, and they
got a huge wakeup call.
USair needs to cut down its route structure, with all of its mergers
they have competing hubs against themselves.
Like I said, I know my airlines I have my whole life
I just dont think they can be arrogant

[hughee99]

23. Crazy Fares...

A friend of mine lives about 80 miles from Philly. During a business trip up to Boston, he found it was cheaper to book a flight from BWI that stopped in Philly both ways, then it was to book a flight directly from Philly, so he did that, and just skipped the BWI portions of his flight (thankfully he didn't have to check any bags). How the hell does it cost an airline more to fly from Philly to Boston than it does to fly from BWI to Philly to Boston?

[maxsolomon]

21. delta pisses me off regularly

their hub is cincy but its cheaper to fly THROUGH cincy to louisville or lexington, rent a car & drive BACK to cincy than to just book into cincy & get off there.

i'm not sure why this is.

[BiggJawn]

24. Hurry up and DIE....

What, you want your Pilots and Flight Attendants to start paying YOU to work there?

How much did they pay their CEO and stockholders last year?