Is it possible that DALPA and DP are also quietly in discussions as well? Or at least, has DP tried to talk to DALPA privately since they're a big part of the committee and so dead set against this?
January 25, 2007
Dear Fellow Pilot,
As this week draws to a close, I want to update you on events as your MEC continues our opposition to Doug Parker’s hostile attempt to takeover Delta Air Lines.
Our mobile billboard campaign continued in Phoenix/Tempe, Charlotte, and Washington. Also, on Monday we ran a half-page ad in select markets in the USA Today. Our goal was to take our message to the streets and point out the truth and history behind many of Doug Parker’s promised synergies. We asked if the proposed hostile takeover of our company was the face of industry consolidation yet to come, a face scarred with failed promises, reduced choices and higher prices. We asked the public to sign the E-Petition of support for a standalone Delta.
On Tuesday, after an employee grassroots rally not far from the steps of the U.S. Capitol, that E-Petition, with over 104,000 names from 105 countries around the world, was delivered to the United States Congress by a group of Delta employees from many different departments.
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation conducted a lengthy hearing on the impact of consolidation on the airline industry. While the scope was broad, the US Airways hostile merger proposal dominated the hearing. The Senate committee was very well versed on the issues and asked tough questions of all witnesses. Delta employees filled the room and Delta pilots—including many line pilots who traveled in for the event—lined the walls. Our presence was undeniable and the visual image was impressive.
Throughout the week, it became evident that the skepticism toward Parker’s hostile takeover attempt was growing daily, and that it is increasingly shared by the public, industry analysts and our government’s elected representatives. Parker’s proposal is not just bad for our passengers, the communities we serve, and the employees of all three airlines, it is also an opportunistic effort to exploit this nation’s bankruptcy laws.
Further, Parker’s grand promises and carefully selected sound bites—even those in testimony before the Senate committee—will mean little in the aftermath of any consolidation. Like the overstated claims of a snake oil salesman, there are neither contracts nor laws that will force Parker to comply with any of his “promises.†For example, during the Senate committee hearings, Parker maintained that there will be no “frontline†employee furloughs, but when pressed by an Atlanta reporter during a break, he admitted that a “rational†workforce reduction would be in the neighborhood of 8,000 employees. With years of attrition already having taken place at both Delta and US Airways, there is no attrition left. The only “rational†way to reduce the headcount is through furloughs. And over two months after the announcement of the proposal, Doug Parker finally offered up his version of a “rational†number.
The US Airways/Delta story has dominated much of the industry financial press this week. Many analysts are now discussing the proposal in the past tense. Calyon analyst Ray Neidl stated the effort was “losing steam,†and CreditSights analyst Roger King commented that “It doesn't look like the US Airways bid is going to be successful.†An Arizona Republic article published after the hearing noted that Jerry Grinstein “fielded dozens of questions from reporters during a break, while Parker - standing just a few feet away - was being advised by his spokeswoman to decline comment.†Arizona Republic reporter Dawn Gilbertson wrote, “Delta employees have been blasting US Airways' takeover attempt for weeks with the rallying cry, ‘Keep Delta my Delta’. . . it's looking more and more as if they're going to get their wish.â€
These reports are encouraging, and the progress toward our victory is due in no small part to the efforts of your elected ALPA representatives and the extended committee structure as well as the efforts of Delta employees system wide. But we must not be distracted nor let down our guard. I want to assure you that we will not consider this merger attempt over until the threat is completely gone. Parker has pronounced on several occasions that if his conditions are not met, he will withdraw his proposal on Thursday, February 1, 2007. That date is less than one week away. But, right now, that intent is just another promise from Doug Parker.
Regardless of what happens on that date, our efforts to destroy this merger will continue until we are convinced the proposal is stone-cold dead. We will maintain our presence in Washington and continue to escalate the battle at every available opportunity to ensure that our sacrifices during bankruptcy do not become a bounty to be shared by Doug Parker and short-term profiteers on both sides of the financial transaction. The consequences of doing otherwise are simply too great.
Fraternally,
Lee Moak, Chairman
Delta MEC
