I appreciate both of you continuing this conversation which is difficult, but because it seems to continue to occur is worth discussing at a level sufficient to PERHAPS come to some sort of conclusion.
In my opinion, which some will not consider as having any value, the central issue is remains that DL is the surviving airline in a merger which is now approaching five years old. There continue to be people who have asserted since the merger was announced that DL’s way of doing business is not correct based on a comparison of the way it was done at NW.
Let’s be brutally honest and admit together that Northwest Airlines agreed to a merger with Delta Air Lines in which NW’s board and mgmt gave DL incredibly broad authority for DL to retain DL’s headquarters and name and for the board to predominantly composed of former DL members. In practice, DL and NW people are represented both on the board and at all levels of the company but there is no doubt that DL automation, procedures, and culture survived. UA and CO did not follow the same type of pattern. It isn’t clear exactly how AA-US will play out but it appears that mgmt will be heavily biased to US while HDQ location and name will be biased to AA. DL’s merger with NW is much similar to WN’s merger with FL in terms of the level of control the surviving carrier gained.
As much as any of us would like to argue about details, the central issue is one of control by the surviving company.
No one doubts the contributions that FL and its people made to the industry and neither does anyone doubt what Northwest Airlines contributed or what they have brought to Delta.
WRT personnel policies, DL’s policies are distinctly different from NW’s. DL made the decision 20 years ago to have its own people at airport locations while outsourcing the ramp. Kev has made the point before that DL started “the race to the bottom” with its outsourcing of the ramp and there is some element of truth to that among US legacy carriers. However, the practice, as we have seen is common in other countries, and among other carriers in the US. Even among very successful low cost carriers which both have long histories, WN is at one end of the scale in retaining jobs inhouse while AS has been far more aggressive at outsourcing.
I’m not honestly sure if any other legacy airlines currently have the same policy as NW of agreeing to have AW and BW either both inhouse or outsourced but DL decided 20 years ago to break that link.
Lifer, I am not at all trying to be offensive to you or any other PMNW employee or those of any other, but the simple fact is that 7.5 was an intensely painful period for DL but DL did those major cuts in BK WRT to what cities were outsourced or maintained inhouse while other carriers wrestled with the issue in BK or after. IN reality, DL was probably able to do 7.5 because its people were not unionized because making a change that large at a unionized company would have required either union approval – highly unlikely outside of BK – or the power of BK to modify the agreements.
At the same time, DL’s decision to retain its own personnel in many medium sized and small cities has left DL people in locations where other airlines have not retained them. DL’s policy of allowing employees to move between work areas has long been easier than at more heavily unionized airlines.
Nonetheless, DL has made a clear decision to have its own people in customer-facing positions while outsourcing in the same locations. It is not a reasonable expectation based on 20 years of DL’s history or statements of DL execs to expect that DL will place BW people in the same locations where it has its own people, regardless of how small some of those cities are with AW DL personnel compared to cities that have outsourced ramp.
DL’s policies allowed many BW people to move into AW areas and that continues to be the case.
My desire is and will always be that DL would move toward more and more locations for its own people in as many work areas of the company but it is very hard to expect DL to add its own people when other airlines continue to outsource BW work, including at WN who is doing it for the first time.
The best opportunity to add DL people to stations that don’t have them now is thru DL’s strategy of using the 717 to replace regional jet flying. Traffic statistics show that DL has been one of the most aggressive airlines in removing regional carrier capacity and replacing it with mainline flying. Although any airline can change their fleet plan at any time, no other airline currently has the fleet choices DL has which should make it possible for DL to put its mainline aircraft in places where other carriers cannot viable do so.
I am very aware of the dissonance that DL’s policies and the merger have created and I would very much like for everyone to succeed and end up happy. But life doesn’t usually work that way. Given DL’s stated intentions, it is likely that some people will continue to be dissatisfied with DL’s choices.
To the degree that any of us can influence the outcome of the situation or our collective understanding of the dynamics that are at play, there is value in continuing to discuss the issue with the hope that at least on this forum, we can come to a common understanding, even if we can’t change the outcome in actuality.
