DAL kills Stations

[swamt]

Can not believe that I am the first one reporting this. Where's all the DAL employees effected by this??
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Delta to close Memphis pilot base in 2012
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Atlanta Business Chronicle
Date: Friday, November 11, 2011, 11:40am EST..

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Delta Air Lines Inc. is closing a pilot base in Memphis.
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Delta Air Lines Inc. .. is closing a pilot base in Memphis, Tenn., and shifting 200 pilots to other bases across the United States.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the move affects pilots flying DC 9 and Airbus A320 aircraft. The base will be closed in December 2012.

Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) also operates pilot bases in Atlanta,Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Salt Lake City and Seattle.


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See Comments
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[Kev3188]

Can not believe that I am the first one reporting this. Where's all the DAL employees effected by this??

There are very few DL pilots on this board. I'll bet I can count 'em on one hand and have some fingers to spare...

Anyway, the writing on the wall for this base closure has been coming for some time, unfortunately. With the drawdown of DC9 flying out of MEM, it was bound to happen. Same with the Airbus base, though I think they closed both at the same time for efficiency reasons. It also prevents the displaced DC9 guys from bumping junior Airbus pilots there.

FWIW, they have opened an A320 base in NYC, and grown the DC9 flying out of ATL. Just speculation, but I suspect will see a good lot of the DC9 guys retire rather than transfer.

 

[eolesen]

Closing the base sounds so negative... They're really just giving those employees an enhanced opportunity to transfer to somewhere more desireable and exciting to live.

 

[Kev3188]

My mistake; I forgot to use the word "transition" in my post last night.

 

[Art at ISP]

The DC-9s are supposedly all going away during the next year, so I guess what little flying they will continue to do short term will be out of ATL. Is it safe to assume that the DC-9 crews are either VERY senior or VERY junior? Would make sense either way....

You are right there is a new Airbus base in NYC. I think alot of MadDog routes between NY and FL are going Airbus.

 

[WorldTraveler]

No one has replied because the thread title is not even factually accurate with respect to the subject.
Closure of the MEM pilot base hasn't resulted in a single station closure and no pilots have been furloughed because of it.
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Since many pilots commute, including to/from Florida, ATL is alot easier base to get to/from than MEM. Airline employees have always understood that moving and commuting is part of the package.
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The measure of an airline's success in a city/region is the local market revenue, not the amount of traffic that flows through that airport in transit between two points.
As in CVG, DL's share of both revenue and passengers from MEM has been constant while the connecting traffic has been moved to larger hubs including ATL and DTW where efficiencies of size make it less expensive to handle that traffic than in smaller hubs.
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DL's reduction in high CASM 50 seat RJ flying throughout its network has affected CVG and MEM more than other hubs and thus has affected the ability of routes flown by small mainline equipment to survive.
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And yes, there will be a significant amount of new flying on DL's domestic system by next summer as a result of the slot swap. As the largest market in the US, the slot swap will allow DL to further strengthen its position which already has passed CO standalone as the largest domestic airline from NYC. With the slot swap, it is very possible that DL will become the largest domestic airline from NYC despite the CO/UA merger.

 

[Kev3188]

The DC-9s are supposedly all going away during the next year, so I guess what little flying they will continue to do short term will be out of ATL. Is it safe to assume that the DC-9 crews are either VERY senior or VERY junior? Would make sense either way....

Both, actually. The left seat guys tend to be on the high side, with the right seat being fairly junior...

You are right there is a new Airbus base in NYC. I think alot of MadDog routes between NY and FL are going Airbus.

That's my understanding as well, but I haven't really looked at the schedules lately. I also think some of it is being done to prepare to ramp up NYC post slot swap...

 

[WorldTraveler]

I also think some of it is being done to prepare to ramp up NYC post slot swap...

The slot swap will result in the most signficant change in market dynamics the US airline industry has seen outside of a merger or direct asset acquisition.
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DL's pilots are well aware of the strategic value of the transaction and recognize that they ultimately benefit when DL is able to most efficiently redeploy its assets to where they can make the most amount of money.
That is probably why even on discussion boards which are more frequented by DL pilots, the MEM hub closure is pretty much a non-event. The comments that are being made are more questions about who will end up where.
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The DFW hub closure was far more significant than the pulldown of MEM and DL used that in part to fund its growth in NYC which has seen in a doubling of its revenue over the past 5 years. Giving DL the potential to increase its NYC revenue by as much as 25% more will benefit the pilots and every other DL employee.
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Increasing revenue generation is always good for employees, regardless of the company or industry. That is the heart of what DL is doing w/ the slot swap which in turn led to a decision to reduce MEM flying and thus make the pilot base not viable.

 

[tom barry]

There are very few DL pilots on this board. I'll bet I can count 'em on one hand and have some fingers to spare...

Anyway, the writing on the wall for this base closure has been coming for some time, unfortunately. With the drawdown of DC9 flying out of MEM, it was bound to happen. Same with the Airbus base, though I think they closed both at the same time for efficiency reasons. It also prevents the displaced DC9 guys from bumping junior Airbus pilots there.

FWIW, they have opened an A320 base in NYC, and grown the DC9 flying out of ATL. Just speculation, but I suspect will see a good lot of the DC9 guys retire rather than transfer.

Geez Kev, I think it's a Close "coin flip" which is worse.
Flying a (darn near) 40 year old DC 9 or having to live in Atlanta (GOD FORBID) !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kev3188]

Well, the 9's were completely refurbished in '00... B)

 

[WorldTraveler]

Generally aircraft must have cabin refurbishments about every 10 years with some updates a bit more often. I believe the DL BusinessElite and CO BusinessFirst product are both about 10 years old - and they were getting dated.
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The DC9 is an outstanding aircraft and probably could continue to fly if fuel prices were lower but the relatively low capacity and higher fuel consumption make the DC9 less viable.
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Given that DL says the M88s will remain part of the fleet, there is apparently a tradeoff between higher fuel economy and a paid-for airplane - the same that NW found w/ the DC9s.
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The interesting question will be if WN really does intend to get rid of FL's 717s and if DL will be interested... it is not the most economical 120 seat aircraft but it is much more modern.... and the DC9s could remain in the DL fleet for years in the form of M80s, M90s, and perhaps 717s.
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With respect to the MEM pilot base closure and the most recent DL announcement about NYC expansion, I expect there will be no shortage of new flights out of there for NYC based crew members to choose from, many of which will be longer and more valuable than the MEM flights that are being dropped; with DL heading for 500 flights per day from JFK and LGA, there could be a lot of crew members that prefer to fly from there.