No Word On Further Layoffs

Delta told employees Wednesday that five VP-or-higher executive positions are being eliminated as the integration of the former Northwest Airlines continues, and the economic downturn persists.

All of the positions were tied in some way to operations at Northwest, which under terms of the merger will be absorbed into the Atlanta-based carrier. The memo, from CEO Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian, did not go into detail on other workforce cuts to match a planned 10 percent capacity reduction planned for 2009.

"We have been, and continue to be, committed to avoiding involuntary reductions of frontline employees to the greatest extent possible. Bottom line, the global economic downturn is worse than many economists anticipated. We will continue to act quickly and decisively to address these economic pressures looking ahead for the remainder of 2009 and into 2010."

Delta has revealed plans to cut international capacity mainly on its Atlantic and Pacific networks, but still plans to increase Latin America capacity this fall.

The carrier is scheduled to release its first-quarter financials on April 21.

FMI: www.delta.com