Misc - HL 317 (8)

PCN,  here below are two memo’s that are the latest updates from Ed Bastian and  two letters from Flt Ops John Laughter and Dir of Crew Resources –Bob Schmelzer.

When you read these you may become  somewhat melancholy.  Things at the Delta campus have turned south and who knows when they will get some semblance of normalcy again.  The loads have tanked, 650 planes are parked, 46,000 are on leave, crew complement is overstaffed by 7000 pilots, early retirements incentives planned, furloughs on the horizon, base closures, and categories being eliminated.  Whew, a whole heaping pile of bad.  While, we feel for those active guys going through all this, many of us, I’m sure that we are glad we only had to deal with a bankruptcy. 

  MEMO​​

To: Delta Colleagues Worldwide

From: Ed Bastian, CEO

Subject: Our First Quarter Report

Today we reported Delta's financial performance for the first quarter of 2020. While the year started strong, the COVID-19 outbreak had a devastating impact on our business, resulting in our first quarterly loss since 2012.

Travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders have thankfully been effective at slowing the spread of the virus, but they severely impacted demand for travel. Passenger volumes dropped as much as 95 percent by the end of the quarter. We finished out the period with a GAAP pre-tax loss of $607 million. The loss unfortunately means we will not accrue any profit-sharing from the quarter, and for the first time in eight years, do not expect to have a profit-sharing payout for 2020.

The second quarter will be worse. The decline in travel has reduced our expected revenues for the period by $11 billion, or 90 percent, compared to a year ago.

Throughout it all, the people of Delta have shown the strength of our values and culture, working tirelessly to keep our customers and each other safe while taking an active role in the fight against the virus. Your dedication, professionalism and passion for service to our customers, our people and our communities during this global crisis are truly inspiring.

We are taking difficult but meaningful steps to position Delta to lead the recovery when the virus is contained. As we look ahead to the rest of 2020, we will be guided by three priorities:

Taking care of our people and customers. Nothing is more important than your health and safety, and that of our customers. With your help, we've enacted a wide range of safety and cleaning measures on our planes, at airports and across our facilities. We're also providing face masks to our people; enabling social distancing on our planes and at our ground facilities; and having as many people as possible work remotely. Most of the few passengers we are carrying are doing critical work to help us all get through this crisis and you are playing an essential role in helping them.

Preserving our liquidity. Our ability to endure the coming months rests squarely on our efforts to preserve our cash. As revenues rapidly deteriorated, we took decisive action to reduce our cost base and protect liquidity. Since early March, we've raised $5.4 billion in capital and we will receive another $5.4 billion in payroll support under the CARES Act, which has helped us commit to avoiding actions like furloughs and pay rate reductions through the end of September. We received the first $2.7 billion of the CARES Act grant on Monday. Our actions so far, combined with CARES Act relief, should bolster our cash resources to approximately $10 billion by the end of the June quarter, putting us on a solid path to stay above our $5 billion minimum liquidity target through the entire year.

Positioning Delta for recovery. We are confident that people will begin to travel again. It is essential to the global economy, and our mission to connect the world will be more important than ever when we get to the other side. We don't know when it will happen, but we do know that Delta will be a smaller airline for some time, and we should be prepared for a choppy, sluggish recovery even after the virus is contained. I estimate the recovery period could take two to three years. I hope it's sooner, but we need to be realistic in our planning. During that period, however, will come opportunities to accelerate our strategies in fleet and airports to become a more modern, nimble airline that connects our world more effectively than ever before.

This certainly isn't the world we were expecting when the year began. But at Delta, we don't waste time on what could have been. The Delta spirit is at its strongest when we face challenges together – just look at the remarkable 37,000 of you who have volunteered for unpaid leaves, a ​decision that will help protect Delta's future. I am deeply grateful for your personal sacrifice. Together, these decisive actions today will keep us climbing through the crisis and into the rebound. We absolutely will prevail and restore Delta to her position of honor as a leader in the global airline industry.

I have never been more humbled, and proud, to be your leader. I know this difficult situation has a personal impact on you and your families, and that's something that will always be at the heart of every decision we make for our collective future in the months ahead.

Thank you for all you do, every day, for our customers and each other. Please continue to keep yourselves healthy and safe at work and in your personal lives. I'll be in touch soon with another update.

Ed​

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Ed Bastian to Delta Colleagues Worldwide

Protecting Our Future

May 14, 2020
With the unprecedented drop in travel demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic slowdown, we continue to take action to protect Delta’s cash, Delta jobs and Delta’s future. Our principal financial goal for 2020 is to reduce our cash burn to zero by the end of the year, which will mean, for the next two to three years, a smaller network, fleet and operation in response to substantially reduced customer demand.
An important tool to help us achieve these goals is retiring older aircraft and modernizing our fleet as we plan for the future. We’ve already accelerated the retirement plan for the MD-88s and MD-90s, and parked more than 650 jets total. With international travel expected to return slowly, we’ve also made the difficult decision to permanently retire our Boeing 777 fleet – 18 aircraft – by the end of the year. Our A330s and A350-900s, which are more fuel-efficient and cost-effective, will perform long-haul flying as international demand returns.
Retiring a fleet as iconic as the 777 is not an easy decision – I know it has a direct impact on many of you who fly, crew and service these jets. The 777 has played an important role with Delta since 1999, allowing us to open new long-haul markets and grow our international network as we transformed into a global airline. I’ve flown on that plane often and I love the customer experience it has delivered over the years.
However, parking this fleet will provide significant cost savings over the next several years. Delta is currently burning about $50 million every day, and steps like this help us stem the bleeding, in an effort to safeguard Delta jobs and our future. Delta went into this crisis in a position of strength, and this will be an important step to ensure we remain in a relatively strong industry position as demand recovers.
We continue to hear from our customers about the great work you are doing every day. I’ve received many emails and messages in recent weeks thanking us for the amazing work of our Reservations and Customer Care professionals, particularly as they’ve assisted with processing refunds.
Delta has refunded more than $1.2 billion to our customers since the pandemic began, including $160 million so far this month. It reflects an enormous volume of cash refunds that our people have handled with their renowned professionalism and empathy.
As one customer put it in a survey response, “I was anticipating a hassle from previous customer support experiences with other companies, but my concern was addressed in a way that felt very good as a consumer. This was my best support experience ever.”
Thanks to the Reservations and Care team – you are the best in the business.
In addition to protecting our cash and positioning Delta for the future, our other top priority – and the most important one – is protecting the health and safety of our people and customers. That includes mental as well as physical health. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and in stressful times like these, we should be particularly mindful of our mental and emotional well-being. Delta has resources available, including our Employee Assistance Program, that can help with almost any mental health issue or concern. There’s information available on Deltanet on how to access these programs, or you can contact the Human Resources department.
I want to thank you all for the hard work and sacrifices you are making to secure the future of our airline. That includes those who have taken voluntary leaves of absence – more than 41,000 so far - as well as our people on the front lines taking care of our customers during this stressful period. You continue to inspire me every day as we work to build Delta’s future together.
Please continue to stay healthy and safe, physically and mentally, at work and in your personal lives. Nothing is more important. I’ll be in touch soon with another update and will continue to answer your questions at our virtual Town Halls on SkyHub.
It’s my honor to serve alongside you.
Ed

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MEMO

TO: All Pilots

FROM: Bob Schmelzer, Director - Crew Resources Planning & Analytics

DATE: May 14, 2020

SUBJECT: May 2020 Advance Entitlement/Surplus Bid Posting Recap

Crew Resources will post an Advance Entitlement/Surplus bid on May 15, 2020 at 09:00 ET. The purpose of this bid is to align staffing for the projected flying in summer 2021 and 2022. The bid will close at 17:00 ET on May 25, 2020. This bid will have a 365-day conversion window and four category openings and eighteen category closures. The final conversion date for this bid will be May 2, 2021. The first possible training from this bid will occur in the June 2020 bid period. Pilots who receive an award should prepare to train immediately. As we planned for this displacement bid, we worked very closely with our cross-divisional partners to coordinate a flexible plan. The bid plan incorporates the flexibility to adjust initially to the evolving landscape (e.g., potential early out programs, increased early retirements, or a change in the economic environment following the bid award). The contract provides flexibility through displacement cancellation, or the ability to post another bid in the near future. When this bid is awarded there will be approximately 10,730 active pilot positions, a reduction of approximately 2,500 active positions (inclusive of the approximately 300 new hire pilots who had their AEs removed with the cancellation of the January 2020 AE). There will be 11,628 positions available on the bid, we will not fill all of them, but have included them to manage the training volume coming out of this bid. We will make the decision on which positions to award after the bid closes, as we evaluate our training constraints. Included within the 10,730 pilot positions, are all the incremental positions needed to cover the approximately 660 active pilots that we expect to retire (either by reaching the mandatory age, or because they elect to retire early) between now and summer 2021. We currently forecast a requirement for approximately 9,400 pilots in Q3 2021. Pilots without enough seniority to hold a position through the displacement process will be assigned to a “UNA” category status at their base. The “UNA” designation means a pilot in excess of the PWA staffing requirements.  Their line guarantee will be the lowest paying position listed in Section 22 B. for aircraft in revenue service, which is the 717 First Officer, these pilots will not have a status (Captain or F/O). Like other conversions, the conversion to the “UNA” category designation will occur in accordance with the PWA. This assignment to the “UNA” category will occur when a senior pilot, holding a Mandatory Displacement, is assigned training. Because the training is normally assigned in inverse seniority order, the training date will drive the junior pilot to convert to the “UNA” category.  Structuring the bid this way allows training resources to be concentrated on senior pilots holding a displacement bid. May 2020 AE/Surplus Bid Summary For a typical AE posting we specify the number of positions that we are adding or removing from each category (this is usually added to the seniority table). However, due to the overall volume of change, we are including the table below. It lays out the total number of positions that could be filled for each category, we will not fill all of the 11,628 positions below, but we need to maintain some flexibility to manage training volumes. We will end the bid award process with approximately 10,730 positions. The posted and awarded pilot numbers will be different than the 22 D. 3. table posted further down; that table shows a forecast of 10,069 pilots by the May 2021 bid period. The difference between the two numbers reflects the approximately 660 active pilots who will retire during the conversion window. Please review your standing AE, MD and VD bids carefully and update them with your preferences. If your bid does not reflect enough displacement preferences, you could be assigned a lower paying category, with limited opportunity to bid out of that assignment for the next 12-18 months. 777 – The 777 will be retired by the end of this year. The decision to retire the 777 accelerates fleet simplification and lowers structural operating costs in our international network while protecting key international markets with the expected 350 order book. 350 – With the retirement of the 777, we have made the decision to open two new bases in ATL and LAX. Enhancements to the 350 now allow it to operate key long-haul markets (SYD and JNB) at a lower operating cost than the 777. The three 350 bases will be roughly equal in size at approximately 90 crews each. The two new bases will pick up some of the flying that is currently operated by DTW; they will also pick up key routes from the 777. 764 – The 764 will continue to be an important fleet for our international strategy - the aircraft’s smaller size (compared to the larger 330) will allow us to scale trans-Atlantic markets as business traffic returns. We will work closely with Network to balance deployment out of ATL and NYC. 330 – There are limited changes to the 330 with this bid. Most of the staffing adjustments are intended to balance staffing at current bases across the system. We will continue to evaluate 330 bases in SLC and LAX as we re-establish the aircraft delivery timeline, but current projections and projected aircraft deployment do not support opening either base at this time. 7ER – We have made the difficult decision to close the DTW, MSP, and SLC 7ER categories. We will also be reducing the size of the LAX and SEA 7ER categories to reflect a lower volume of international flying on the fleet. International flying on the 7ER fleet will be concentrated in NYC and ATL. The significant reduction in projected volume on the 7ER has accelerated this decision. Over the past several years, international flying (and more specifically Pacific flying) has been reduced from the 7ER fleet. As flying volume returns to the west coast, it will be shifted to new fleet types (like the 321neo). We will maintain flexibility on the 7ER fleet by carrying a small surplus pool of pilots. If we see booking strength in either narrowbody or widebody sectors, the 7ER fleet can be reactivated quickly to cover the increased demand. 73N – We have made the difficult decision to close the CVG 73N categories, and the pilot base. CVG drove structural cost through low reserve utilization rates, and we had been adding new hires to CVG as former pilots bid to other categories and bases. With an increasing number of CVG pilots retiring over the next three years (34% of CVG Captains by the end of 2022), we believe that now is the correct time to close the base. Across the rest of the system, we are adding positions to ATL and SEA, as aircraft retirements and category closures realign fleet deployment. The NYC 73NB category had increasingly fallen to new hire pilots, and pilots assigned to the NYC 73NB bid out quickly. As a result, we will reduce the size of the NYC 73N category and shift some of those positions to other bases to stabilize the high (pre-COVID) turnover rate on the 73N fleet. 320 – We continue to evaluate a SEA 320 category, but it will not open on this bid because the projected volume of 320 flying in SEA will not reach the threshold to cover the viable point to open the category (approximately 50 crews). Additional staffing adjustments to the 320 are a result of the reduction in flying volume on the fleet.  As deliveries and reactivations pick up, we will continue to add crews to the fleet. M88 – The M88/90 fleet will be retired at the beginning of the June bid period. We will displace and close the ATL categories.   A220 – Although we worked closely with Network to evaluate other bases for the 220, we determined that we would focus staffing for the next year on the two current bases. We no longer have a timeline for adding additional bases, but we will reevaluate this with each future bid. 717 – Over the next two years we are currently projected to operate half of the 717-fleet (approximately 30-45 aircraft). Working closely with Network on forward deployment, we have made the difficult decision to close two 717 categories; NYC and MSP. Flying in NYC is transitioning to the 220 and 320 fleets and flying in MSP will be increased on the 73N and 320. The information below summarizes the logic behind the AE/Surpluss award process: AE & Surplus Award Processing Pilots are processed in seniority order. For each pilot, an AE bid is processed first. If an AE is not awarded, the system will determine if the pilot is a surplus in his/her category. If yes, it will check for a senior pilot with a VD bid and award, if able. If there is no senior pilot awarded a VD, in lieu of this pilot, he/she will be awarded an MD. A few tips for bidding: Never bid your own category without stipulations. If you bid an AE & VD, the bids should be exactly the same. Your VD bid will be processed using the junior pilot’s (the one being protected from displacement) seniority, except for a base change, in which case your own seniority will be used. “New Categories” are awarded strictly by seniority Keep in mind, a junior pilot displacing could be awarded a category in which a senior pilot bid an AE. If the displacement causes a surplus in the category in which an AE was previously awarded, the AE will be removed during the looping process and your other AE/VD/MD bid preferences will be considered. Pilots who do not have adequate displacement preferences listed will be assigned a category in accordance with the procedures outline in PWA Section 22 F. 14. If a senior pilot does not have enough bid preferences listed, they could be assigned a much lower paying category. Please check your bids. A preview of this AE, and some additional information about the AE strategy, are currently available on SkyHub. We will post the AE award results and projections of future AEs as well as other Crew Resources updates in the monthly Crew Resources newsletter and on the Crew Resources webpage on Deltanet. The newsletter can be found on the “Crew Resources & Scheduling” page of the Flight Operations Deltanet page. Pilots can also subscribe to receive the newsletter via email by signing up for Flight Operations subscription email. The Flight Ops Monthly update email is typically sent on the fifth of the month and the subscription signup link is located under “Communications” in the middle column of the Flight Operations Deltanet page. Please note: The Company has the ability to liquidate vacation periods that conflict with training resulting from an AE or VD award. While pilots may request to retain vacation, we expect the training generated from this bid to be substantial, and we will need to utilize all training opportunities. We will evaluate and attempt to accommodate as many vacation retention requests as possible, but pilots should be aware that requests may not be granted, and vacation will be liquidated in order to meet our training schedule. Please see PWA Section 7 C. 7. for additional information. A pilot who converts into another category may retain their previously awarded vacation. A pilot who requires qualification training conflicts with a scheduled vacation period may have their vacation re-bid through the vacation move-up process or liquidated. Please see PWA Section 7 C. 7. for additional information. We do not expect to bypass pilots on the May 2020 AE/Surplus bid. If you were awarded an AE, VD or MD from the previous bid, your preferences have been deleted, so you will need to update your preferences as necessary. If you wish to use your reinstatement rights to a previous position, you must check the reinstatement box on the AE screen and also put the desired reinstatement position on the AE preference bid. This bid will close at 17:00 ET Monday, May 25, 2020 and it will be effective for 365 days. Projected training dates will be assigned in the June 2020 bid period, with all conversions completed by the May 2021 bid period. ALL Pilots should check your current bids, and always bid what you want, and want what you bid. Sincerely,

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Delta to retire 777 fleet by end of 2020

Published Date 5/14/2020 8:30 AM

​​​​​By Corporate Communications staff

​​​In late April we announced the early retirement of the MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft and today, Delta is sharing plans to retire our 18 widebody Boeing 777s by the end of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sunsetting the 777 fleet will accelerate our planned strategy to simplify and modernize the fleet, while continuing to operate newer, more cost-efficient aircraft.

"We're making strategic, cost-effective changes to our fleet to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while also ensuring Delta is well-positioned ​for the recovery on the backside of the crisis," said Gil West, Delta's Chief Operating Officer. "The 777 has been a reliable part of Delta's success since it joined the fleet in 1999 and because of its unique operating characteristics, opened new non-stop, ultra-long-haul markets that only it could fly."

Last month, Delta announced its plans to accelerate the retirement of the MD-88 and MD-90 fleets to June. Since the onset of the COVID-19 situation, Delta has reacted quickly by parking aircraft and considering early retirements of aircraft to reduce operational complexity and cost. To date, the airline has parked more than 650 mainline and regional aircraft to adjust capacity to match reduced customer demand.

The Boeing 777-200 first entered the fleet in 1999 and grew to 18 aircraft, including 10 of the long-range 777-200LR variant, which arrived in 2008. At the time, that aircraft was uniquely positioned to fly non-stop between Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa, Los Angeles to Sydney and other far-way destinations.

Delta will continue flying its fleet of long-haul next generation Airbus A350-900s, which burn 21% less fuel per seat than the 777s they will replace.

Despite a reduction in international passenger travel, the 777 fleet has been the workhorse of Delta's cargo, mail and U.S. citizen repatriation operations amid the pandemic. Since late April, the widebody jet has flown dozens of trips from Chicago and Los Angeles to Frankfurt to deliver mail to U.S. military troops abroad; operated between the U.S. and Asia to deliver thousands of pounds of critical, life-saving supplies to aid in the COVID-19 response; and carried thousands of U.S. citizens back to the U.S. from Sydney, Mumbai, Manila and other cities around the world. ​

More specific details of the timing of the 777's exit from the fleet will be disclosed at a later date.

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NOTE: I have not previewed the link sent in by Tony.  Caution: it may be straight news or it may be an opinion piece.  Please keep that in mind. 

Tony P apapandrea@cfl.rr.com

Retirement looks better and better each day. Things are going to get messy. I can remember when DAL owned all of its airplanes - even the one we bought for them. Them days is gone along with the culture that made it what it was. 

Tony P

Life is Good

In God We Trust

------ Forwarded Message --------
From: Bob
Date: 5/8/2020 2:01:34 PM
Subject: Fox News: In coronavirus aftermath China threatens takeover of US aviation: Ex-Cheney Deputy National Security Adviser

In coronavirus aftermath China threatens takeover of US aviation: Ex-Cheney Deputy National Security Adviser
Unless federal government takes action, commercial aviation could soon be at the mercy of Chinese predators.

Read in Fox News: https://apple.news/AOzt6kD59SNC-AW_vQ7w-lw

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