Transportation Industry

Company Watch - Delta Air Lines

AirGuide Business, April 14, 2008

Apr 14, 2008

Delta Air Lines canceled about two dozen flights on Wednesday and Alaska Airlines, 14, to address the same situation on their MD-80s. Delta canceled hundreds of flights at the same time as American in late March. Dan Garton, American's marketing chief, told reporters the carrier hoped to have full operations by Saturday. "We're working hard to get the airline back to normal," Garton said. Airline officials could not estimate the hit financially but Arpey said the episode would be "costly." A spokesman estimated about 100,000 passengers were affected by the 1,094 cancellations. Apr 10, 2008

Delta Air Lines voluntarily re-inspected about half of its 117 Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) MD-80s on Tuesday night and canceled about two dozen flights on Wednesday. About 20 planes required extra work. The airline was to recheck the other half of that fleet on Wednesday night. It rebooked passengers on other Delta flights and expects no additional customer impact, a spokeswoman said. Delta said it was working directly with the FAA on the new inspections. Apr 10, 2008

Delta Air Lines is urging its union leaders to cede parts of a pilots' contract so it can move closer to merging with Northwest Airlines, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources who knew about the situation. If talks are fruitful, the airlines seek to announce their long-pending merger as early as next week and gather support from Northwest pilots later, the report said on Thursday. Delta is promising 6,000 pilots pay rises, equity and a seat on the board of the combined airline if the union agrees to its request, the Journal said, quoting those sources. Merger talks between the airlines cooled in March when pilots from both sides failed to agree on how seniority should work for the roughly 12.000 pilots in the combined carrier. But talks were revived, and Delta and its pilots have been discussing a new contract that would be valid if the merger goes through, the Journal reported earlier, citing sources familiar with talks. Apr 10, 2008

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and their European partners have received tentative antitrust immunity from the DoT to cooperate on pricing and routes. The DoT's decision expands trans-Atlantic immunity to airlines that fly the routes as part of the SkyTeam alliance. Apr 10, 2008

Delta talks with pilots, may announce merger with Northwest soon. If Delta Air Lines succeeds in negotiations with its pilot union, Delta and Northwest Airlines could move forward with a merger as early as next week, according to media reports. The pilot groups for the two airlines have been at odds over how to integrate seniority lists if the carriers merge. Delta declined to comment on any negotiations with the pilots, but reports said the airline wants the union to drop restrictions on their labor agreement to give the carrier more flexibility. Apr 9, 2008

Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have returned to merger negotiations, according to media reports. Executives from the two carriers will meet this week, say news reports. Apr 7, 2008

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