longing4piedmont
Veteran
- May 19, 2003
- 1,291
- 6
Flight Plan
Inside Gerald Grinstein's struggle to save Delta
Article
I was one of about 50 customers who was invited to go through the Velvet Rope Tour, which in mentioned in the article regarding meetings with the employees in ATL, though not mentioned by name. I had a chance to meet the senior management. I spent about 20 minutes one on one with Whitehurst prior to the meeting and I have to say I blistered him on a couple of topics (think ASA). I found him to be honest and forthright in is answers. In addition, I had a chance to meet one on one with the other managers. They were open, to the point, discussions. (for example I told Jeff Roberston, that I flew DL in spite of the skymiles program, not because of it, when he asked what I thought of the program.) I did not like some of the answers I heard during those conversations, but truly appreciated the straight answers even when they knew I was not going to like them. I could not have been more impressed.
Six months later I can tell you that many of the items they told us they were working on, some of which were not public knowledge at the time, have either been implemented or are in the works.
One quote stands out for me in the article. Whitehurst ran through all the CASM, RASM, and other performance numbers and at the end he told us the same thing. DL is in bankruptcy because they were no longer a value in the market place and they intended to change that. I my opinion they have come a long way in that regards in the last year.
But the wounds have been slow to heal. As Whitehurst strode to the front of a dim, windowless room at the Atlanta airport, there was no applause--not one clap--from the 20 or so veteran pilots who had gathered on a steamy July morning to hear the boyish-looking executive's plans for fixing the bankrupt airline. With mock seriousness, Whitehurst ticked off the litany of excuses that his predecessors had cited to explain the Atlanta carrier's downward spiral: high fuel costs, stiff competition from rivals like AirTran Airways Inc. (AAI ), rich pension obligations, and--yes--high labor costs. Whitehurst paused, then said, "Let's be honest. That's bull----. We are in bankruptcy because we have been losing in the marketplace."
Inside Gerald Grinstein's struggle to save Delta
Article
I was one of about 50 customers who was invited to go through the Velvet Rope Tour, which in mentioned in the article regarding meetings with the employees in ATL, though not mentioned by name. I had a chance to meet the senior management. I spent about 20 minutes one on one with Whitehurst prior to the meeting and I have to say I blistered him on a couple of topics (think ASA). I found him to be honest and forthright in is answers. In addition, I had a chance to meet one on one with the other managers. They were open, to the point, discussions. (for example I told Jeff Roberston, that I flew DL in spite of the skymiles program, not because of it, when he asked what I thought of the program.) I did not like some of the answers I heard during those conversations, but truly appreciated the straight answers even when they knew I was not going to like them. I could not have been more impressed.
Six months later I can tell you that many of the items they told us they were working on, some of which were not public knowledge at the time, have either been implemented or are in the works.
One quote stands out for me in the article. Whitehurst ran through all the CASM, RASM, and other performance numbers and at the end he told us the same thing. DL is in bankruptcy because they were no longer a value in the market place and they intended to change that. I my opinion they have come a long way in that regards in the last year.
But the wounds have been slow to heal. As Whitehurst strode to the front of a dim, windowless room at the Atlanta airport, there was no applause--not one clap--from the 20 or so veteran pilots who had gathered on a steamy July morning to hear the boyish-looking executive's plans for fixing the bankrupt airline. With mock seriousness, Whitehurst ticked off the litany of excuses that his predecessors had cited to explain the Atlanta carrier's downward spiral: high fuel costs, stiff competition from rivals like AirTran Airways Inc. (AAI ), rich pension obligations, and--yes--high labor costs. Whitehurst paused, then said, "Let's be honest. That's bull----. We are in bankruptcy because we have been losing in the marketplace."