More Jobs Cut in MSP

eolesen

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Jul 23, 2003
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Sent out today.... Looks like it pretty much kills off the last of the PMNW admin functions left other than the airports and HIB....

We have identified additional opportunities to consolidate our facilities in Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul, including:

Selling the Atlanta Reliability Center, a transaction scheduled to close later this summer;

Consolidating our Minneapolis/St. Paul flight attendant training center, pilot training center and flight simulator facilities to Atlanta;

and

Consolidating our Minneapolis/St. Paul TechOps Engineering and Technical Support teams to Atlanta.

While we no longer require the MSP Training Center (formerly known as Building N), the Building C Tower, and Hangars 5 and 6, we will continue to need the skills and capabilities of all our flight attendant facilitators, pilot instructors, simulator support employees, engineers and technical support employees.  Jobs will be available for all of these employees who are interested in relocating

I know, the buyouts offer flexibility, and weren't targeted at getting PMNW people to "Keep Delta MY Delta!"

And I can't wait to hear how selling your home in the worst real estate market ever seen, and moving your family from Minnesota to Georgia is a reasonable alternative, and a sacrifice every dedicated employee should consider without question. Or how commuting is good for a marriage, since absence make the heart grow fonder.....
 
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Sent out today.... Looks like it pretty much kills off the last of the PMNW admin functions left other than the airports and HIB....



I know, the buyouts offer flexibility, and weren't targeted at getting PMNW people to "Keep Delta MY Delta!"

And I can't wait to hear how selling your home in the worst real estate market ever seen, and moving your family from Minnesota to Georgia is a reasonable alternative, and a sacrifice every dedicated employee should consider without question. Or how commuting is good for a marriage, since absence make the heart grow fonder.....


What a bunch of :huh: CREEPS!!
 
Sent out today.... Looks like it pretty much kills off the last of the PMNW admin functions left other than the airports and HIB....

Yes it does, though I think building J (IT) is still there?

I know, the buyouts offer flexibility, and weren't targeted at getting PMNW people to "Keep Delta MY Delta!"

And I can't wait to hear how selling your home in the worst real estate market ever seen, and moving your family from Minnesota to Georgia is a reasonable alternative, and a sacrifice every dedicated employee should consider without question. Or how commuting is good for a marriage, since absence make the heart grow fonder.....

E, the Widget comes first. All other needs are subservient to that. C'mon, man; get with the program.


Project Visine continues, full speed ahead.

Yup.

:( :( :(


Is anyone surprised?

Nope.
 
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NO ONE should be surprised because
1. From the day the merger - er, acquisition - was announced it was clear that DL would be the surviving name, headquarters location, and corporate entity... the only reason anything was kept in MSP was because of the need to meet the requirements of the MSP/MN agreement that NW made and to ensure the continuity of the operation during the transition. Given that DL immediately recognized the value that the NW IT team made and the huge amount of work that had to be done - and which isn't completed - to integrate systems - DL has retained the IT group while moving other functions to ATL.
Given that DL has never had a separate operational headquarters in any other city besides ATL (once DL moved there), it shouldn't be a surprise that DL is finally consolidating the operations function. Given that some of these functions such as FA training probably dictated using both sets of training facilities to the max for a period of time, it made sense to keep the duplicate capacity. With a SOC and identical safety and training procedures, not so much now.
2. The only obligation companies have is to protect and enhance the value of the stockholders that own the company. DL as well as other publicly traded airline are for-profit entities that exist for the benefit of the stockholders... they are not charities and they are not social service organizations. Their decisions support the needs of the stockholders, not the employees, and not the communities they serve, other than in pursuit of their economic ends. That is the whole calloused truth.
3. DL recently closed its London res office after years of using it to serve Europe in favor of handing over the res function to Air France while AF did the same thing in the US, interestingly using the same model that KL-NW developed more than a decade before. The first obligation is to meet the needs of the stockholders through increased efficiency- and apparently KL and NW saw the light before AF and DL did.
4. It is doubtful that this is any more of an acceleration of project visine since I am rather certain that the people involved have been given the option to move to ATL.... further most of these people affected are likely mgmt so this can certainly not be seen as an anti-union effort.
5. If you - or others don't like the housing market - which has been in the tank for more than 3 years - then I suggest it's time for a major housecleaning in Washington - and I say that knowing full well that both sides of the aisle have presided over the crappy US economy. Businesses and individuals can't sit around w/ their hands folded waiting for WAS to fix the US economy - which has home ownership as a cornerstone moreso than any other developed country in the world.
and finally
6. You will see more and more of these types of announcements coming from FL/WN and CO/UA in the months ahead as they integrate their operations. This is part of the process of merger integration not just in the airline industry but also throughout the business world.
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Perhaps the only difference is that DL chose to announce the cuts during an open enrollment period for voluntary separation packages while many companies would simply hand you a pink slip.
 
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If it is so business critical to close MSP training, why is SLC FA training remaining in place?...

Taking MRO out of MSP isn't just impacting managers. It kills off that 3P work and the AMT jobs attached to it. It also eliminates two B747 docks if Hgr 5/6 go away.

DL offering the open enrollment isn't any different from what would be offered at any other company. I saw no less than 11 rounds of staffing reductions between 1992 and 2006 for both management and non-management and most involved terms similar for people with 10 years. And it is quite clear that targeting a more senior workforce makes it unlikely that people will make the move.

Fact is that DL made commitments to the state and the employees when the merger went forward.

I know, they're just being flexible and doing what any corporation would do... But it doesn't change the perception that burying every last reminder of Eagan is still an objective.
 
The SLC training facility is dwarfed in comparison to the MSP facilities, both in terms of size and scope.... and, yes, there are benefits of having facilities located close to your clients... it is costly to expect every DL employee to travel across the country to ATL for training... given that SLC is alot further from ATL than MSP is, it doesn't change the reason for consolidating MSP and ATL facilities.
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There is nothing that says that DL is going to stop doing maintenance in MSP or perhaps even reopen some of the facilities that do frontline work that have been closed. These are adminsitrative and support functions that are being relocated. It is purely your conjecture - which is usually wrong - that facilities other than what have been listed will be eliminated.
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In your zeal to note the closures in MSP, you apparently missed that DL is selling its computer center in ATL... but I suppose it blows the theory of DL screwing PMNW folks if DL is also getting rid of excess facilities in its hometown.
 
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All you need to know is that Delta, like the Virgin Mary, is without sin or error. Now, start packing.
which of course is subject to your own views of theology...
which may also include the possibility that the Divine allows things that work out BETTER than we mere mortals might have planned...but of course that will have to be something those affected think about with their own Almighty ... and they might want to discuss the possible changes with their less-than-divine other Ma as well.
 
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Another shoe drops.

DL is closing the A330 crew base in MSP, and opening a A330 crew base in ATL.

DL is indeed selling the former Delta Technologies property in ATL. If they're also selling a data center, it is probably because like every other company with a data center, computer equipment is about a third of the footprint, if not less, than what it was ten years ago. With more and more hosted services being available, they no longer need to own a dedicated/secured facility if they can lease it from a commercial provider who has current generation power/environmentals. My own employer is considering the same option for a new site, even though we operate in owned facilities today. But lets not overlook that network engineers and data center operators aren't put out of work when a facility moves -- they just start looking at a different set of IP addresses.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that ATL will win out over other locations. But I'm not the one who made assurances to the state that there wouldn't be a huge impact to people in MN as a result of the merger. AA made the same mistakes with dealing with MO, and I really expect the same to happen with UACO as more and more "synergies" drift towards business friendly and low cost of living TX vs high taxation/high cost of living IL... Promises made are easily broken. All you have to do is say "the world has changed"...
 
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I'm not entirely sure what is being repayed but I believe it is the outstanding lease on the buildings that are being vacated, not the obligations DL has to the state of MN to keep jobs in the state.
If the obligations to the state remain (and I believe they amount to about $250 milliion), then DL is not free to reduce its employment below the levels specified in the agreements.
I also don't think those agreements specified what jobs DL has to maintain in MSP... they may well be moving other jobs into MN or were in surplus of the number of jobs specified by the agreement.
If someone has information that DL's moves violate the terms of the employment agreement with the state of MN, I'd like to see an article saying so.
I also don't think DL is in a position to repay the agreement (if it is still $250M or more)...
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the fact that MN has a written agreement involving money probably says that they will succeed at keeping whatever jobs are specified - or get the money specified in the contract - or agree to a renegotiation.
The state of Ohio and CLE I believe specified financial guarantees from UA - because mergers have indeed resulted in a lot of broken promises - and taxpayers aren't interested in footing the bill for the success of mergers.
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If there are details that clarify where DL stands in relation to the agreements w/ MN, I'd like to see them.
 
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