达美航空将裁员约2000人 首席运营官9月底退休！

Delta Set To Furlough Around 2,000 Employees

Delta Air Lines is furloughing nearly 2,000 pilots in October. Saying the airline has too many pilots, Delta is standing down 1,941 of them. It is also warning of further involuntary furloughs to follow. The airline is blaming COVID-19 and the sustained downturn in travel demand that followed.

Delta is overstaffed and in a difficult situation

Delta’s head of flight operations, John Laughter, sent a memo to pilots yesterday to break the bad news. That memo, seen by Simple Flying, said;

“We are simply overstaffed, and we are faced with an incredibly difficult decision.”

Mr Laughter says there were 11,200 pilots on Delta’s payroll after calls for voluntary early departures. But the airline says they need only about 9,500 pilots across the short to medium term.

“We are six months into this pandemic, and only 25% of our revenues have been recovered. Unfortunately, we see few catalysts over the next six months to meaningful change this trajectory.”

In a statement, Delta’s pilots’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) called the decision disappointing.

Delta made a call for voluntary redundancies

In mid-July, Delta Air Lines told its pilots they would avoid involuntary furloughs if they agreed to reduced guaranteed minimum pay. At the time, Delta wanted to reduce minimum pilot pay by 15% in exchange for no pilot furloughs for at least one year.

The Atlanta-based airline was actively working on cutting expenditure and was asking for 17,000 employees to step up and accept voluntary redundancies, including calling for approximately 1,700 pilots to go. The deadline for applying for voluntary redundancy was Sunday, July 19. At the time, Mr Laughter said forward travel demand was down by 80%.

In a memo sent to all employees in July, Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian said;

“We’re committed to exhausting every option possible and harnessing our creativity before we consider involuntary separations.

“We’re continuing to work with our pilots’ elected representatives to avoid pilot furloughs.”

But ALPA says Delta has done the opposite. They say that instead of creative solutions, the airline is using the threat of furloughs to force more pilots to accept redundancy packages.

Despite more pilots than anticipated accepting redundancy, it’s clear that it’s not going to be enough. CNBC is reporting that approximately 1,800 pilots took packages to leave Delta. That’s more than the 1,700 Delta asked for in mid-July.

“ALPA has drafted numerous, mutually beneficial proposals that would provide the airline with voluntary cost-savings measures.” ALPA said in a statement provided to Simple Flying.

“Delta’s most junior pilots are facing unnecessary career uncertainty when ALPA has offered countless voluntary options to management to prevent furloughs from occurring.”

As conditions deteriorate, Delta wields makes its move

But yesterday’s memo from John Laughter said;

“Early retirements alone wouldn’t solve the pilot overstaffing situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 cut faster and deeper than any other event in the history of our industry.

“Letters to pilots hired on or after July 17, 2017, will be sent out later this week.”

As airlines move closer to the cut off date of CARES Act funding, other United States carriers are expected to make similarly tough decisions. Delta’s memo also highlights that COVID-19 is having a more significant impact on the airline industry than initially forecast. There has been no quick rebound of travel demand, rather stop-start incremental increases, and it looks like continuing in this way for the foreseeable future. It’s a grim outlook for airlines and their employees.

Delta Air Lines acknowledges the impact involuntary furloughs will have on the pilots and their families. While predicting a “multi-year recovery,” the airline hopes to bring the pilots back to the cockpit as soon as possible.

Delta Air Lines COO Gil West To Retire At The End Of September

Delta Air Lines’ Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer is retiring after 12 years with the company. The move was announced today by CEO Ed Bastian in a memo seen by Simple Flying. Gil West has spent a long time at Delta, improving the airline and its operations. He will stay at Delta through September until a transition plan has been established.

Gil West’s role at Delta

Gil West leads an extensive team at Delta. His role is to oversee the team responsible for promoting Delta’s operations across the globe. Departments under his jurisdiction include Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance; Delta Connection; Delta Private Jets; Fleet and Technical Procurement; Flight Operations; Operations Analysis and Performance; Operations and Customer Center; and Technical Operations.

His role also sees him drive innovation across Delta and building up opportunities such as Delta Hangar, Technical Operations MRO Services, Delta Flight Products, and Delta Material Services.

Before his role as COO, he served as Senior Vice President – Airport Customer Service and Technical Operations. In that role, he oversaw Delta’s airport operations, customer service, contracted services, workplace safety, and operational IT strategy. Also, he worked on maintenance activities, flight safety and regulatory compliance, and aircraft modifications.

Mr. West will stick with Delta through the end of September to facilitate the smooth transition. Delta has not yet named an immediate replacement.

Before joining Delta, he worked for Laidlaw Transit Services as President and CEO. In the airline industry, he has held leadership roles at Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Boeing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and received an MBA from National University in San Diego.

An integral role in the post-merger landscape

Mr. West joined Delta in March 2008 and led the Delta and Northwest airport and customer service merger integration. In the immediate aftermath of the merger, he helped improve customer service and operational improvements, bringing Delta towards the top of operational rankings.

He has built on his success in the post-merger landscape in building up Delta’s on-time performance and operational reliability. Today, Delta consistently ranks highly among US airlines when it comes to measuring operational metrics.

Other retirements

Earlier today, the CEO of Qantas International, Tino La Spina, decided to step down over the fallout from the ongoing crisis that saw international travel head to the back burner. El Al Chairman Eli Defes retired over a medical issue.

Earlier this year, CFO Paul Jacobson announced his retirement from Delta, though that has been delayed amid the current crisis.

Retirements from the industry are always a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, Mr. West has made laudable improvements to Delta’s operations and spent many years with the company. He will depart Delta with a lasting legacy of bringing the airline from near the bottom to the top and supporting a robust and healthy slate of operations.