ATLANTA NEEDS DELTA….

...BUT DOES DELTA REALLY NEED ATLANTA?

DELTA ‘SUGGESTS’ OTHER AIRPORTS CAN HANDLE ATL TRAFFIC
WILL CITY BLINK IN HIGH STAKES POKER GAME?

News outlets across the nation broke the story on Jan. 19th, 2009 that Delta was seriously contemplating ‘shopping’ around for a better deal when it comes to connecting traffic throughout the U.S. and abroad.

The Memphis Business Journal is reporting that “Delta is contesting the rising cost of capital improvement projects—such as the $1.6 billion Maynard Holbrook Jackson International Terminal, which is now projected to cost double original estimates.”

Delta’s 30 year lease with Hartsfield-Jackson will expire in 2010 and Delta is also contesting the potential rise in 'unit costs' for enplaning.

“As much as two-thirds of traffic through Hartsfield-Jackson is connecting passengers, and Delta vice president for real estate John W. Boatright wrote in a letter that Delta could accommodate those flights through other hubs.”

“In a business where airports are our factories, a cost escalation from $5 to $10 per enplanement—as proposed by the latest version of the airport’s capital improvements plan—would make it unlikely that we could continue to grow and invest profitably at Hartsfield-Jackson, Boatright wrote in a letter to the airport. “With approximately two-thirds of Atlanta’s traffic able to be connected over other hubs (i.e. Memphis, Cincinnati or Detroit)—and the difficult economic environment facing our industry—it is more important than ever that Hartsfield-Jackson’s unit costs remain competitive with those of other hub airports competing for the same connecting traffic.”

Would Delta really pull a large percentage of their Atlanta operation and move it somewhere else just because of a few billion dollars? You bet they would! In a heart beat.

They’ve done it before and it didn’t take long. Just ask Dallas how fast a bustling hub can turn into a heap of near nothingness. It’s all about money folks and it doesn’t matter how ‘family friendly’ you have been told that Delta is or whether or not the Delta ‘spirit’ really exists. Money is money and these times we are living in require smart moves and cold-blooded business decisions.

Many of us in the union campaign at Delta have often marveled at the almost smug nature of some of our Atlanta CSA counterparts. They act above the fray and feel bullet proof. There is an air of detachment, as if nothing will ever touch them. Many don’t worry about having to move or losing their jobs to outsourcing or closing cities because, after all, they are in Delta’s ‘chosen city.’

It’s time to shake loose the dream you’ve been living in and turn to your real family; the only people who truly care whether or not you are working here in a year or two. Your brothers and sisters in the IAM know how to protect your seniority and should your city drastically reduce capacity or close, they can provide the way forward with a legally binding contract which provides a roadmap to your next destination.

Don’t be left stranded on the side of the highway because your airline played high stakes ‘extortion’ games with airports around America. If Airports and cities can get jacked around by Delta, what makes you think that individual employees unprotected without a union have any prayer at all?

Get the facts; read more than just the Deltanet and plan for your financial future with a real money manager and friend; the IAM.