Work For Delta! See The World! Clean The Plane!

Aero-Views OPINION by ANN Associate Editor Rob Finfrock

I believe it's fair to say Delta Air Lines has invited a certain cynicism upon itself, related to its conduct over the past several years, and on through the current bankruptcy proceedings... which is why it's tough for me to look at the headline that appeared in the St. Petersburg Times this week -- "Clean for pride, not pay, Delta asks staff" -- without a callous eye.

First, though, a little background: from an early age, I was raised with a certain affinity for Delta Air Lines. Just out of school, my mother worked for Delta's reservation service in the late 60s (Mom, I apologize for giving ANN's readership a means to compute the math on that -- your loving son, Rob) and to this day she speaks with considerable fondness for the environment she worked in back then.

It wouldn't be out of line to compare the Delta Air Lines of that era to what Southwest, for example, strives for today: employees who care about their jobs, because they feel the company cares about them. What a concept.

Alas, there are times when reality outpaces memory... or at least, it has for Delta. To say things aren't the same at Delta today would be a gross understatement -- one only needs to see recent television images of pilots protesting outside Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport during the ongoing contract crisis that, while since temporarily abetted by word of a "tentative agreement", may still threaten the airline's very future before things are said and done.

From the company's perspective, Delta's reasoning in asking its pilots -- and all of its employees -- to surrender sizable chunks of their pay and benefits is understandable. Delta's Number One and Two priorities right now are to 1) exit bankruptcy, by any means possible, and 2) stay in business. Slashing and gutting its employment ranks and costs are obvious ways to increase the likelihoods those two scenarios reach fruition.

Of course, it's easy for me to make a comment like that, as I sit writing this article with no connection to Delta other than one family member's fond memories, an occasional flight out of DFW, and a quick glimpse of "The Spirit Of Delta" as she landed on 35C one final time last month.

After all, it's not MY pay Delta's management is saying they need... and I admit that if ANN publisher Jim Campbell told me that he needed to cut my pay by a percentage equal to what Delta is telling its pilots to give, my response would be similar to the pilots': "I hope you enjoy that extra Big Mac, and kindly go to hell" (newsflash: writers don't make ATP wages.)

This is not the first time Delta has fallen on difficult times... but now, as the airline tells its employees they must give until it hurts, the airline competes with its own history. Remember, it was Delta that gave its employees raises in 1982 that management had earlier promised, even when it became clear the carrier lost money on the year. We've already covered what happened next: Delta employees pitched in and bought the airline a plane... a great one. Smiles all around, mutual goodwill to spare, and some great advertising to boot.

Today? Disgruntled pilots threatening to strike, inflatable rats, and "The Spirit Of Delta" has been mothballed. Which is why it seems at best awkward... and at worst, insulting... that Delta management once again banked on that same giving spirit -- that "spirit of Delta" -- this week, as they asked employees to work for free, as volunteers, to help clean aircraft at night on their own time.

What do the employees get in return? According to the Times, a sense of well-being, basically -- the reward of the knowledge that they've done their own small part to chip in and help their airline save some money, while keeping its corporate image tidy where it matters most to Delta's customers... in its planes. If warm fuzzies aren't enough... employees who chip in on "Clean Days" also get a T-shirt, and rewards points good for merchandise from the company store.

"The effort allows us to focus on a key element of customers' expectations when traveling: aircraft cleanliness," the Times reports a recorded message on Delta's employee news line said this week. "Clean Days allow employees to work together to demonstrate pride in Delta and its operation."

It's a great idea, really... especially as I remember my last mainline Delta flight aboard a ratty 763 that, frankly, could have used some good housekeeping. But it's also not hard to understand why employees at Tampa International rolled their eyes when they first heard about the idea. You can imagine their thoughts: "you've already gutted our workforce, cut our wages and have threatened pensions... and now you want us to clean your planes for free?"

The news that some employees were rubbed the wrong way by "Clean Days" didn't surprise Daniel Petree, dean of the college of business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

"It could be seen as adding insult to injury, asking for free labor," Petree told the Times. "It may not tactically be a smart thing."

Of course, there are those employees who will pitch in to help, too -- more than 300, in fact, who volunteered for the first "Clean Day" at ATL last Wednesday (later cancelled due to a security incident at one of the terminal's checkpoints.)

I hope the program works for Delta. I also hope management remembers those employees who gave what they could -- and then some -- to help the airline during its darkest hours, when (if?) the airline returns to profitability. And in my wildest dreams... I'd like to see CEO Gerald Grinstein (below) and Chairman John F. Smith, Jr. pitching in at a Clean Days event or two... or eight of them.

But even more than that... I'd like to see Delta management forego their paychecks this year, cash in some stock options, and distribute some of their golden parachute funds among Delta's rank and file. Yeah, that's dreaming, I know... but it would also foster some true employee goodwill, and that's something both Delta, and its employees, could really take to the bank.

FMI: www.delta.com