Cnn Lou Dobbs' Quote Of The Day By Delta

[Winglet]

DOBBS: And our quote of the day tonight comes from a Delta spokesman. When we asked Delta about the decision to export this critically important maintenance work to Canada, Delta's response was telling.

"The work in Canada is domestic. Because it's North America, that is part of our domestic operation."

 

[TheDog2004]

Delta also defined Hawaii as 'international' up until a few years ago. It's dumb.

 

[aislehopper]

We won't even talk about New Mexico.

 

[mweiss]

These statements sound a lot dumber than they really are. The terms weren't intended to be absolute; they were intended to reflect the behavior of the operation, and its primary constituent.

That is, until recently, flights to Hawaii behaved more like trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights, and were therefore included in international operations. Flights to Canada behave more like domestic flights, and are therefore part of domestic operations.

 

[Winglet]

The spin was not dumb, it was deliberate. Try thinking critically. That's not the point. The point is that the Delta spokesperson was being deceptive and lying about the outsourcing of American jobs. By using an unrelated and tortured "route system" definition of "domestic", the spokesman was trying to mislead the interviewer into thinking those jobs were not leaving the United States. What's even more surprising is that the Delta PR department is so stupid and incompetent, they would actually try to palm this lie off on a fairly savy reporter who specializes in "The Outsourcing of America."

In my opinion, it's sad to see an airline that enjoyed such high loyalty from employees degenerate into one with less than forthright ethics and just outright stupidity.

 

[RDU Jetblast]

They shouldn't have tried to kill the "Widget". Only an outsider would want to change the brand. <_< This is bad Karma coming back.

This is what happens when you hire management from the outside. No sense of family. No sense of loyalty. No sense of fiscal responsibility. No sense at all.

 

[WorldTraveler]

RDU,
Jerry is about as "inside" as you can get without having actually worn a DL badge.
USAToday had a chart showing that DL had the lowest percentage of maintenance outsourcing of any of the large airlines; sadly, the time was coming. Unless a dramatic turnaround occurs fairly quickly, there will likely be more cuts but at least DL maintenance will have already given fairly dramatically. Also, as I understand it, overhaul work is very time consuming and not as technically challenging as the engine and component maintenance work which DL will keep in house and supposedly also insources. While you may find any outsourcing objectionable, I think DL has at least tried to keep those tasks which Americans can cost-efficiently do and which DL has the potentially to cost effectively do WITH high quality for years to come.
I think an interesting story is that Air Canada is receiving a big chunk of the work for a couple reasons. AC has just been through a very bumpy bankruptcy so I'm sure their employees have been kicked in the teeth and they have excess maintenance capabilities; I'd be curious to know how AC mechanics' salaries compare w/ DL's when currency adjusted. Further, while this is only a maintenance contract on the surface, you have to wonder if this doesn't give DL some leverage for much deeper cooperation w/ AC - important since DL has one of the smallest Canadian presences among the US airlines and no Canadian partner.
I don't know much about the Miami company and would be interested in anything anybody can contribute about them.

 

[ZMAN777]

Further, while this is only a maintenance contract on the surface, you have to wonder if this doesn't give DL some leverage for much deeper cooperation w/ AC - important since DL has one of the smallest Canadian presences among the US airlines and no Canadian partner.

[post="259468"][/post]​

WT,

Are you implying that DAL will try and hook up with an airline who is already a member of Star Alliance? Or did you have some other operation in mind?

Cheers,
Z B)

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

I think an interesting story is that Air Canada is receiving a big chunk of the work for a couple reasons. AC has just been through a very bumpy bankruptcy so I'm sure their employees have been kicked in the teeth and they have excess maintenance capabilities; I'd be curious to know how AC mechanics' salaries compare w/ DL's when currency adjusted. Further, while this is only a maintenance contract on the surface, you have to wonder if this doesn't give DL some leverage for much deeper cooperation w/ AC - important since DL has one of the smallest Canadian presences among the US airlines and no Canadian partner.
I don't know much about the Miami company and would be interested in anything anybody can contribute about them.

[post="259468"][/post]​

From todays Toronto Star:
Analyst Ray Canon of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., said the contract is an important win for Air Canada, whether it keeps technical services or not.
"At the least it will make Air Canada's balance sheet look better," Canon said. "On the other hand, if the prime intention is to sell off this thing, what better way than to sell it with a lucrative contract in hand?

Full article here.

 

[DalMD88]

I have to disagree with the thought that the work being outsourced is less technical than what is being kept in house. The work I've been doing in HMV is a lot more demanding of my skill as a mechanic than I will be doing on a Letter Check or PSV check. The reason we are keeping the engine and component work has more to do with the percent cost that is labor vs parts. Engine shops run about 25% labor vs HMV runs about 75% labor. It is just like an auto shop. They would rather spend the man hours doing jobs that have a high mark up value.

The biggest downside of sending this work out is the long term reliablity of the aircraft.

 

[RDU Jetblast]

You're right WT. I went off the cuff with that one. In hindsight-the older I get-the worse my memory becomes.

Ron Allen, who was home grown, broke the bank with the Pan Am deal. Mullens dramatically changed the brand, which sentimentally to me, was a slap in face of everything and everyone who made Delta a great airline.

I disagree with the less technically challenging remark. Try forming, bending, fitting, splicing and riveting a piece of aluminum in a tight space with the perfection I've seen come out of techops. Those guys are artists as well as contortionists. I have always believed delta's hangar was more capable than any of Boeings. Once this skill is lost, It is lost forever.

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

We won't even talk about New Mexico.

[post="259355"][/post]​

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

aislehopper,
OFF topic !!

I had my first ride on SONG last sunday into to America's "REAL " airport, JFK !!

The personal video screens, and leather seats were a very nice touch !!!!!!!!

NH/BB's

 

[WorldTraveler]

Forgive me if I implied the HMV work was less technical. It is undoubtedly true that the percentage of labor for HMVs is much higher than for engine or component work.
While I'm sure it will take time to get over this outsourcing, Air Canada is a pretty reputable airline so I don't think DL will suffer because of this. Not sure about the MIA company.
I do feel sorry for every American that loses his/her job to outsourcing but I have to say I probably am reacting alot less strongly knowing that the outsourcing is to US and Canadian companies than to those from other companies. Maybe there's something about people living in a country w/ a similar standard of living that makes outsourcing a little more palatable.
Either way, if fuel doesn't come down, this won't be the only thing DL has to outsource.

 

[aafsc]

Forgive me if I implied the HMV work was less technical. It is undoubtedly true that the percentage of labor for HMVs is much higher than for engine or component work.
While I'm sure it will take time to get over this outsourcing, Air Canada is a pretty reputable airline so I don't think DL will suffer because of this. Not sure about the MIA company.
I do feel sorry for every American that loses his/her job to outsourcing but I have to say I probably am reacting alot less strongly knowing that the outsourcing is to US and Canadian companies than to those from other companies. Maybe there's something about people living in a country w/ a similar standard of living that makes outsourcing a little more palatable.
Either way, if fuel doesn't come down, this won't be the only thing DL has to outsource.

[post="260732"][/post]​

This may be news to some but DL has been outsourcing since the late 1990s. The have outsourced cabin, mail, freight, ramp at smaller cities, and closed maintanence at some of their smaller cities. To their credit they did give some decent severence packages. Now here we are in 2005 and see that they are getting rid of heavy maintanence and were seeing DGS (Delta Ground Services) at some of their medium size cities. I remember when Delta was real strict with the ground employees (ramp and mechainc) regarding their uniforms and appearance. From what I have seen on the Delta ramp, it appears that they do not enforce the strict dress code anymore. With all the outsourcing, it appears that DL is discarding it's loyal employees in favor of outsourced labor.

 

[TheDog2004]

DGS means 'Delta Global Services'

Aren't most, if not all, ground staff at European airports work for the airport rather than the airline?