IMAGINE MY CONFUSION

MERGERS, AQUISITIONS AND LIQUIDATIONS
WHAT TO BELIEVE ABOUT OUR FUTURE


I got thinking the other day about all the information flowing in the news media concerning what just happened between Delta and Northwest or better; what is about to happen. Some of you might be aware of the good will tour that Richard Anderson and Ed Bastian (CEO, CFO) are conducting as this article is being written.

They are traveling from city to city, region to region assuring all concerned that the airlines we all grew fond of are still intact and will not change in the coming months and years. Cincinnati has been soothed just today that all is well. Memphis has been told that their hub is intact and stable and tomorrow, the dazzling duo will visit SLC and hob knob with the city and State’s leaders to guarantee them of the importance of SLC to the New, new Delta. Wow! Does anyone else smell the manure?

Nobody is making any money, regional jets that are so essential to these centers are no longer viable and the economy is in the tank; not to mention that fuel is at an all time high and will definitely go higher. Something has to give and many employees and routes will certainly be trimmed.

We just simply can’t be all things to all people and it is time that truth starts to come out. How on earth can we justify keeping such heavy staffing in cities that have duplicate services? It won’t happen. The trouble with these kinds of mergers (acquisitions?) is that who knows what the nature of the beast is?

Do these people (Corporate Officers) embellish from time to time; or, God forbid tell whoppers of white lies? Yes they do. Remember how all Delta people were supposed to have a pay adjustment the 1st of July and now Ed and Richard are denying ever even mentioning the subject? I guess the Deltanet article about the subject was written by elves.

Here’s my dilemma; this is who I am. I am a Western Airline employee trapped in a Delta uniform being managed by Northwest executives, with bitter Pan Am friends working side by side with me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We, as airline people are really just a conflagration of our former selves. We assimilate well and know how to take care of our customers. What we need and deserve is respect, honesty and fairness in the workplace.

We yearn for representation that is consistent when airlines abruptly decide to buy each other; we need a constant. That constant is union representation. The kind of soothing feeling one gets when calamity happens and insurance kicks in.

Is that too tough for our leaders to understand? We want Richard Anderson our CEO to take a neutral stand during the upcoming union votes and campaigns that are currently taking place on Delta property. Let us have an honest, open debate about our future. Let’s not surprise our employees with bad news that might happen down the road;. Let’s spell out the specifics of what’s about to happen with a concise document; a contract.

Ultimately, let the employees of this new, great airline make their own decisions about who should negotiate their wages, benefits and work rules. In the year of one of the most important elections in American history, doesn’t it make sense to conduct ourselves democratically and openly? God bless America (and the rest of the world!) and good luck to all of us.

Bruce K. Church
120 SLC