Delta Signals Possible Bankruptcy (No mention of CAPPS II)

[displacedtexan]

I know I'm not the only person who has refused to participate in these CAPPS II airline experiments. Delta joined that spy ring voluntarily. Now, after having let 16,000 go, they're threatening bankruptcy if pilots don't take a pay cut! (2/3 of the $15 billion payoff (9/11) went to Delta, United, and American, BTW).



Delta Signals Possible Bankruptcy if It Doesn't Get Wage Concessions

By Harry R. Weber The Associated Press
Published: May 10, 2004

ATLANTA (AP) - Delta Air Lines said Monday that it may have to file for bankruptcy if it doesn't get significant wage cuts from pilots, the first time the struggling carrier has publicly linked the two issues in a regulatory filing.

snip

Spokesman Anthony Black said that while it is the first time such language has been used in a public filing, Delta has not changed its position. He also noted that Delta is seeking to reduce cuts beyond pilot wage concessions, including through increased productivity and customer service improvements.

snip

Ray Neidl, an analyst with Blaylock & Partners in New York, said the language in the filing suggests Delta is guarding itself and making sure it warns people about the possibility of bankruptcy. He said the key to Delta's survival is clear.

snip

Delta, the nation's third-largest airline, has lost more than $3 billion and laid off 16,000 employees in the last three years. In the first quarter, it lost $387 million.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGANXJAX2UD.html


CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System II)

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has confirmed that it is testing a new security program that subjects airline passengers to more stringent screening that involves checking personal financial and other information and assigning a threat level to each passenger.

Currently, only Delta Air Lines is participating in testing the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II (CAPPS II) program at three undisclosed airports, but officials expect it to be rolled out to all passengers at Northwest Airlines and other carriers within the next 10 to 16 months.

CAPPS II is drawing fire from civil liberties groups and privacy advocates, who say it will collect an unprecedented amount of data on individuals and give no assurance of accuracy. They also say the plan lacks sufficient controls over who would have access to the information.

"The federal government now has the authority to seize information from wherever they can grab it, whether or not it's accurate, to create a dossier on you," said Charles Samuelson, executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union. "The TSA claims these records are going to be restricted, but according to these regulations, they're not. They're so open-ended that damn near anybody has access to these records."

http://www.pocketbook.org/sky/3rdeye/spying/spying_def_CAPPS2.htm

[Jacobin]

1. Don't worry. I'm sure all the executives have protected

multi million dollar retirements and will continue to collect multimillion dollar salaries while they finish running the airline into the ground.

Since our Fearless Leader and Congress do not give a rats ass about the pilots or other workers, it will not be officially considered a problem at all.

[trof]

2. Well SH*T!

No wonder my Delta preferreds are down.
crap

[trof]

3. At TWA, ALPA once showed management

how we could work for free, and still not bail the company out.

[rdfi-defi]

4. nothing a little corp. welfare can not fix

[displacedtexan]

6. You might be onto something!

I wouldn't put it past Delta to 'beat the Bush*' for another handout!

[AP]

5. Didn't taxpayers give them a couple billion a few years ago?

Where'd that money go? If they can't compete, perhaps we should have done something else with that money? And what did that subsidy cost airlines like JetBlue and Southwest which seem to be competing pretty well, bringing value to consumers and to their investors.

Letting the markeet operate to clearing out the crappy airlines earlier would have been sort of like what conservatives PRETEND to believe in (free markets). And it would have allowed good companies to grow stronger.

[displacedtexan]

7. Yep.

Delta, United, and American got the lion's share of the $15 billion.

Then... Delta decided they were hurting again so they fired 16,000 workers (improved profits, no doubt).

Now they're out of $ again?

[AP]

8. Throwing good money after bad.

[rdfi-defi]

9. well, i do not think most airlines can "compete" without welfare.

isn't the whole aerospace industry subsidized by tax payers? r and d to current operations? if the airlines were left to the "free" market, we would be left with one or two that would charge so much most of us could not fly.

[AP]

11. Yet, the best competitors today -- jet blue and Southwest -- have business

models which LOWER the costs for consumers. Go figure.

[74dodgedart]

10. and the repubs complain about the money Amtrack recieves

I believe they get less than a billion...

[Parche]

12. Delta Song sung blue

And their coming out with Song, the Airline within and Airline
is the most idiotic thing they could have done,

They also gave into the pilots on a whopping increase in pay, I know
they are worth it, but they need to survive, and with the pay scale
at JetBlue and Southwest lower, and Delta's unit costs way too high
it wont be long until they lose more and more $$$.

They should cut Dallas while they can as a hub and focus on the rest
American is too large there for them to fight it out, they have
CVG and Atlanta and SLC and JFK for international.