Delta records another very strong quarter

[swamt]

doesn't hurt me at all to post whatever WN achieved. I can live with facts.

I simply didn't know WN's operating margin. Thanks for posting it. and yes WN's operating margin was about a 1/2% higher than DL's and the largest of the big 4. congrats.

I did notice that DL's ROIC was above WN's.... saw that comparison somewhere. Perhaps you can find the numbers and post them for me.

And again, I have repeatedly said that there was every expectation that AAL would post a higher profit in pure dollars because AAL is a larger company.

By the same token, DL is a larger company than WN. I guess Í now have your permission to say that DL posts a larger profit than WN since DL is a larger company.

As Kev very aptly said a few days ago, it is absolutely great that we are now discussing who has the highest margin when practically the entire industry is above 10% operating margins.

That is just incredible.

The employees do need a few bones thrown to them.... I suspect in the case of DL, UA, and WN that will come largely via profit sharing.

Those who remember the last big profit cycle of the airline industry in the late 1990s (when DL had the highest profit margin of any airline in the US and UA recorded the highest total profit) will remember that unions demanded huge pay raises. The battle cry of UA's pilots was something to the effect of squeezing the goose that lays the golden egg.

A few short years later, UA was in BK and the "pattern bargaining" that ensued resulted in billions of dollars in lower wages.

I don't think airline mgmt. teams forget what happened and certainly don't have any desire to do anything like it again.

Labor can and should make incremental gains - not unlike the 2-3% increases that wnmech noted but with the biggest part of compensation increases coming via "at risk" compensation such as profit sharing.

We, of course, will see how it all plays out but I expect that labor will make small but steady gains instead of huge increases.

The fundamentals of the industry are strong which should allow for profitability on a sustained basis and perhaps at worse breakeven should a major downturn occur.

As in your comparo above, apples to apples per say, legacies to legacies, and LCC's to LCC's,  if you ran the numbers this way SWA becomes top LCC as AA is with legacies.  What was surprising was seeing UAL beating out Delta for 2nd place.  Were you not shocked by this? I know I was.  Even the investors were taken off guard by it.  I know you LUV your Delta, as you should, but it was a shocker watching Delta going from #1 for earnings to #3 at the flip of a switch, I was not expecting that.  It really does look like UAL is starting to get thing right and better, just wasn't expecting this quick and passing up Delta so quickly.   If UAL could get all the contracts into one then they would even save more, however, AA still needs to do the same, but Delta (I believe) is already in single contracts.  Here's the article where I read all this and was shocked where Delta ended up:
 
Profits at US airlines top $4 billion in second quarter

 

[WorldTraveler]

We honestly don't expect you to admit that DL would win anything but no one really cares whether what DL or anyone does meets with your approval or not.

What is the truth is that DL had the highest operating margin of the 3 legacies and BEAT WN at the Return on Invested Capital metric that you thought was such a big deal.

Oh, and DL's on-time is about 15 percentage points better than WN. But hey, you get to carry the cheapskates who are attracted to "no bag fees."

meh.

 

[robbedagain]

who exactly is "we"  ?  and im quite sure that DL doesn't need your approval for squat.   And we all are quite sick n tired of DL this DL that   who the FLIP CARES WHAT DL DOES    Every dam time someone posts something positive here you come along and make it DL this DL that  DL did or does it better.  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

 

[swamt]

We honestly don't expect you to admit that DL would win anything but no one really cares whether what DL or anyone does meets with your approval or not.

What is the truth is that DL had the highest operating margin of the 3 legacies and BEAT WN at the Return on Invested Capital metric that you thought was such a big deal.

Oh, and DL's on-time is about 15 percentage points better than WN. But hey, you get to carry the cheapskates who are attracted to "no bag fees."

meh.

Oh my!  Did I strike a nerve?   Now you will feel how it feels when you do what you do...

 

[WorldTraveler]

of course, it's all about revenge. that's the way this board works.

DL's operating margin was still higher than any of the other legacies, DL has a 13% revenue premium on the domestic system (that is the one that WN competes in), and beat WN at the ROIC metric - the one that mattered so much to you.... and DL IS growing both int'l and domestic.

and our (since it ticks robbed off so much) 717s will be at DAL.

 

[robbedagain]

since Ive never been to DAL nothing there ticks me off    Im not ticked at anything DL does  but like all of the other posters on this board we all are sick of you   sick of you throwing DL does this better  DL does that better into every dam thread

 

[swamt]

of course, it's all about revenge. that's the way this board works.

DL's operating margin was still higher than any of the other legacies, DL has a 13% revenue premium on the domestic system (that is the one that WN competes in), and beat WN at the ROIC metric - the one that mattered so much to you.... and DL IS growing both int'l and domestic.

and our (since it ticks robbed off so much) 717s will be at DAL.

First of all, what is with this revenge you bring up, says alot about why you act the way you do.
We don't care about Dl's revenue premium, and your wrong again.  ROIC is the companies worries not mine, I have simply reported guesses that we will meet and beat it.  I was wrong by a little that it didn't quite make it closer to 18%, but we still have 2 quarters to go with record numbers coming in as it stands now.  SWA is also growing both international and domestic I have already told you this.
Dal will lose money by using the 717's at DAL.  If Delta was smart they would use the larger A/C to get the cost per seat lower and income per seat higher at a certain location, but the real reasons behind Delta using the smaller A/C are more than likely they know they won't have the number of passengers to carry out of LF to bring in the larger A/C, there would be too many empty seats...

 

[jimntx]

since Ive never been to DAL nothing there ticks me off Im not ticked at anything DL does but like all of the other posters on this board we all are sick of you sick of you throwing DL does this better DL does that better into every dam thread

I'm telling you, if you just put him on ignore, you will enjoy reading the board so much more. When you see the line of type that says "This post is hidden because you have chosen to ignore posts by World Traveler," you know to just fill in the phrase "Delta did it better. Delta Uber Alles." Then move on to the next post. One of the reasons that he keeps posting is because all of you keep responding to him. As they used to say in the Deep South, you're jist aggin' him on.

 

[Kev3188]

As they also say in the Deep South, "Amen."

 

[WorldTraveler]

since Ive never been to DAL nothing there ticks me off    Im not ticked at anything DL does  but like all of the other posters on this board we all are sick of you   sick of you throwing DL does this better  DL does that better into every dam thread

first of all, a dam holds back water.

second, if you are getting worked about what I post, then it would appear that you and not me has the problem.

You might "deal with your problem" by accepting that there are other people and organizations who do better than you or your organizations do.

Part of the reason why you find what I say so irritating is because you take what I say about DL so personally.  

and if I am going to have every post I write get hammered with negative votes, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am getting every bit of mileage out of those negative votes.
 

First of all, what is with this revenge you bring up, says alot about why you act the way you do.
We don't care about Dl's revenue premium, and your wrong again.  ROIC is the companies worries not mine, I have simply reported guesses that we will meet and beat it.  I was wrong by a little that it didn't quite make it closer to 18%, but we still have 2 quarters to go with record numbers coming in as it stands now.  SWA is also growing both international and domestic I have already told you this.
Dal will lose money by using the 717's at DAL.  If Delta was smart they would use the larger A/C to get the cost per seat lower and income per seat higher at a certain location, but the real reasons behind Delta using the smaller A/C are more than likely they know they won't have the number of passengers to carry out of LF to bring in the larger A/C, there would be too many empty seats...

the only thing that is your worry is your paycheck... but you have had plenty to say about all kinds of topics including DAL expansion, gates, and a whole lot of things that are "not my worry" 

Just because Delta Air Lines is capable of using a 717 when WN can't hardly means they can't make money.

I doubt very seriously WN would know what to do with a 757, 767, 777, etc but DL is on track for billions of dollars in profits that are heavily driven by aircraft that WN doesn't use.

You might consider that the reason why DL can make money which WN can't without trying to pack in 180 people is because DL gets a REVENUE PREMIUM.

Again, if you could acknowledge that someone else can do something that looks differently than the way your employer would do it, you might be able to see the world thru more than your LUV shaped eyeglasses.

 

I'm telling you, if you just put him on ignore, you will enjoy reading the board so much more. When you see the line of type that says "This post is hidden because you have chosen to ignore posts by World Traveler," you know to just fill in the phrase "Delta did it better. Delta Uber Alles." Then move on to the next post. One of the reasons that he keeps posting is because all of you keep responding to him. As they used to say in the Deep South, you're jist aggin' him on.

no, jimbo, they are afraid I will DOMINATE the board. Horrors.

so they can't REALLY ignore me.

your point, in principle, is correct. We have some very un-prinicipled people here, though.


 

As they also say in the Deep South, "Amen."

they also say it your town and neighborhood, too. It's a GLOBAL thing, actually.

 

[robbedagain]

thanks jim  put wt on ignore list

 

[swamt]

As much as I LUV proving him wrong I will do the same...

 

[WorldTraveler]

go ahead... and then you'll pop right back out of IGNORE mode when I say something that you don't have the self-control to ignore.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

"DL is a TEAM that consists of all who went before, who support the airline from the financial community, and most certainly includes active employees."
 

"However, I can celebrate the successes of people who will get things that I don't while there are clearly things that their successes provide people who went before"
 
 
I took some time off the boards for summer vacation, family time etc and have been reading to catch up.  I got to this particular post and had to somewhat stop laughing for a moment.
 
I seem to recall that one particular poster has noted many times the superiority of Delta since the merger of NWA and that we really shouldn't bring up any bad news from the past.  Such as trying to establish and failing to build a hub in DFW, filing for BK, because, well, all of that was in past and there are new leaders and it's not nice to bring up such sorrid little details.
 
Now we have that same poster, at least to me, trying to take credit for his/her part in the building of this airline empire. 
 
 
 
 



 

 

[WorldTraveler]

"DL is a TEAM that consists of all who went before, who support the airline from the financial community, and most certainly includes active employees."
 
"However, I can celebrate the successes of people who will get things that I don't while there are clearly things that their successes provide people who went before"
 
 
I took some time off the boards for summer vacation, family time etc and have been reading to catch up.  I got to this particular post and had to somewhat stop laughing for a moment.
 
I seem to recall that one particular poster has noted many times the superiority of Delta since the merger of NWA and that we really shouldn't bring up any bad news from the past.  Such as trying to establish and failing to build a hub in DFW, filing for BK, because, well, all of that was in past and there are new leaders and it's not nice to bring up such sorrid little details.
 
Now we have that same poster, at least to me, trying to take credit for his/her part in the building of this airline empire.

whoever told you not to talk about DFW or BK?

what you and others "can't seem to grasp" is that those things all were part of plans that have been successful over the long haul.

the problem is that you want to just score the negatives without seeing the big picture.

when there are people here who want to use this forum as a place to beat others up with no interest in discussion - exactly

and, darn straight, I put in plenty of sweat equity at DL and I am not about ready to yield to people who want to walk away from all that made DL great = and I am certainly not going to yield to people who have never had any connection to DL.