More Cost-Cutting Measures

Delta Airline employees will get an unhappy surprise in their checks at the first of the year: ten percent less money than they're getting today.

In its struggle to save itself from bankruptcy, Delta has already promised to cut 7,000 jobs and is negotiating with its pilots union for concessions. Now, the airline says it will cut both pay and health benefits to the 49,000 workers and managers still on the job.

"We have a small window of opportunity available to us to avoid Chapter 11 that some other carriers do not have," Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein told workers in a statement today. He was quoted by Bloomberg. Grinstein also said he won't get a paycheck for the rest of this year.

There was one bright note for Delta. More than 90-percent of its ALPA pilots voted to allow some retirees return to the cockpit. That vastly reduces the possibility that the airline will face, among its other troubles, a shortage of flight crew members. An analyst quoted by Bloomberg said that was a good move for all concerned -- but a step far short of saving the financially strapped airline. In return, the airline agreed not to axe the pilot pension program -- even if Delta does fall into bankruptcy.

But even these measures, along with a cut in vacation benefits and retiree health payouts, aren't enough, said Grinstein. "The industry environment and our company's worsening financial situation have deepened the gap between where we are and where we must be to survive," he told his workers, according to the Times.

FMI: www.delta.com