DL posts strong profit, maintains advantages

[WorldTraveler]

No, E, there is no hatred of all things NW. See, you and the PMNW labor sympathizers would like for everyone to believe that but I have repeatedly praised the outstanding service I have received fr hundreds of PMNW employees who now collect DL paychecks, treat their passengers with Delta Style service, and haven't forgotten their past but have adapted to the New World Order.

As for you, Kev,

Now that I am back from celebrating this incredible find, let me rejoin the conversation to say that I absolutely considered the possibility that Q could have worked for DL before he left to go work for NW but I dismissed the possibility because the irony was too incredible for me to even believe.

So, Q, since you haven’t posted on the subject yet, you worked for DL, jumped ship to go work for NW for about 2/3 of a career which was cut short because of an enormous strategic miscalculation by AMFA, but thankfully DL bought out NW, assumed NW’s liabilities in the strike settlement because of the hostile labor-mgmt environment that existed over and over between NW and its labor groups, and now you sit on DL aircraft as a non-rev passenger, collect or will collect pension benefits from DL, and come on internet chat sites to trash DL (yes, Kev, there are noun and verb forms of the word)?

Yes the irony is just priceless beyond belief.

You cut your teeth working on Delta DC9s, 727s, and L1011s and then walked away to work on some of the same DC9s that NW acquired. Chicago? Detroit?

You left DL to experience the leveraged buyout and receive a pamphlet from NW mgmt about how to improve your standard of living by “dumpster diving” (for trash, Kev)? Or had AMFA already walked out by the time of the dumpster diving booklet?

There is a story in the greatest literature of the world about a Prodigal Son who did about the same thing.

Kev, you are absolutely priceless. A gem without value.

And the conversation has a new perspective that I could have never imagined.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you, Kev.

 

[eolesen]

Do you speak to those in your congregation or community who disagree with you this way?...

 

[WorldTraveler]

challenge people? 
 
Are you aware of some of the things the founder of the world's largest religion said to those who challenged him?
 
and of course we have people on this forum who have challenged me mightily and used all manner of attempts to discredit me... but I shouldn't bring that up, right?
 
and it still doesn't change the sheer hypocrisy of working for DL, leaving to go work for a competitor that gets bought up by DL, ending your career at that other carrier by a strike that went really bad, coming back to DL looking for benefits that not even NW promised, and then coming onto an online chat forum to denigrate DL.
 
That is hypocrisy and íf you want to bring faith into it, all kinds of religions talk very clearly against it. 
 
We don't have to bring religion into it at all, however, because the essence of what has happened is so very obvious that no one could miss it regardless of faith or none at all. 

 

[Kev3188]

 

Now there's the Widgetus Tyrannous we've all come to know.... unfurling his hatred of the Red Tailed Stepchildren for all to see and adore. Yes, they're not co-workers, they're liabilities with good, bad, and ugly.

I can't understand why nobody would want to be associated with that.

Exactly.

I suspect that had WT not left when he did that he might've been one of those people that praised the merger on one side, and quietly passed out Visine on the other.
 
 

and it still doesn't change the sheer hypocrisy of working for DL, leaving to go work for a competitor that gets bought up by DL, ending your career at that other carrier by a strike that went really bad, coming back to DL looking for benefits that not even NW promised, and then coming onto an online chat forum to denigrate DL.

Can you show us where Q "denigrates" DL? You sure it's not just him "denigrating" what you post? You can still #maintainperspective enough to separate the two, right?

So yeah, you may think you've landed some sort of "gotcha," but in reality, there's no "there" there...

Enjoy it anyway.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, I passed nothing out.....

I praised what NW brought to DL including the many, many fine people. I still do.

But I'm still reeling at the thought that someone could have worked for DL, left to work for a competitor, and comes back to DL expecting benefits that DL will fund even though that person probably never accrued benefits from DL (IIRC 20 years ago vesting in DL's pension plan required 5 years of service).

Regardless of whether you think he denigrates DL or not, he certainly hasn't shown the slightest bit of gratitude to a company that is giving him things that his union never negotiated and his former employer never offered to provide.

Maybe he was laid off... or fired... or just voluntarily left in pursuit of another work location or the hope of better pay.

Either way, the irony is unmistakable that he is now back right where he started enjoying fruits that he never helped grow.

I'm not looking for a gotcha....I'm constantly trying to understand perspective. And I think we (including a whole lot of people who read this board whether it includes everyone or not) gained an enormous amount of perspective in the last 12 hours.


You are priceless, Kev.

 

[Kev3188]

 

no, I passed nothing out.....

Of course not; you were long gone by then.
 
 

I praised what NW brought to DL including the many, many fine people. I still do.

As long as they don't question the narrative, right? Then they become "trash" & "liabilities."

Speaking of which, "actual DL employees" are doing their part to secure your retirement benefits.

You're welcome.

 

Either way, the irony is unmistakable that he is now back right where he started enjoying fruits that he never helped grow.

Way to discredit the man's entire career (at both carroers). You sure that's a statement you want to make?

 

I'm not looking for a gotcha....

Good, but your writing indicates otherwise.


 

And I think we (including a whole lot of people who read this board whether it includes everyone or not) gained an enormous amount of perspective in the last 12 hours.

I'd take it a step further and go for 72-96 hours.

You've done quite well to reveal your true character.

Priceless indeed.

 

[WorldTraveler]

well let's see... in the past 96 hours... maybe a tad more... a few people on here thought they would come up with the gotcha that I had lost a bet regarding the timing of an AA merger which still hasn't legally happened.

Then, I said that DL would be given the right to bid on assets from the AA/US merger and either that will happen, esp. regarding DAL, or the assets won't be bid on by anyone as E suggests and I actually like that idea the best. It becomes a lot hard to kick DL out of an airport they already serve or to deny them access to gates when they are the only carrier so far that has revealed the level of activity they want to pursue.

I'm struggling to understand other than my pitbull style of aggressiveness what I have said that was wrong.

I will acknowledge and apologize to Q that he did in fact work to gain SOME Of the benefits that he is or will now enjoy because NW and its employees did create a company that was strong and that DL wanted to merge with.

But if he so much uses one pass benefit from DL - or ever has - then he has gone into the realm of what he did not gain because those benefits were offered by DL exclusively, unless you can tell me otherwise.

That is precisely the kind of liability that DL assumed as a part of the merger. Actions that NW took that were finished before the merger but with lasting impact to DL as a new company. It is the way mergers work - there is an assumption of liabilities.

I didn't put out the brochure about dumpster diving and looking for trash, Kev.

and yes DL is managing its benefits to secure the best future for all of its employees, retirees, and stakeholders.

 

[blue collar]

Delta-anity is the world's biggest religion? Or are you talking about Christianity? I think the guy who that was named after was also big on treating others the way you wish to be treated. So, apparently you like getting **** on...

 

[Kev3188]

 

I'm struggling to understand other than my pitbull style of aggressiveness what I have said that was wrong.

Well of course you are.

I will acknowledge and apologize to Q that he did in fact work to gain SOME Of the benefits that he is or will now enjoy because NW and its employees did create a company that was strong and that DL wanted to merge with.

Just couldn't bring yourself to simply admit you were outta line and leave it at that, could you?

I didn't put out the brochure about dumpster diving and looking for trash, Kev.

...And nobody has stated otherwise.

That said, even as big of corporate blunder as that was, they never referred to the employees as either "trash," "donkeys," or "liabilites." That's your domain alone.

and yes DL is managing its benefits to secure the best future for all of its employees, retirees, and stakeholders.

 

... Which the "actual DL employees" are making a reality...

Like I said; you're welcome.
 

Delta-anity is the world's biggest religion? Or are you talking about Christianity? I think the guy who that was named after was also big on treating others the way you wish to be treated. So, apparently you like getting #### on...

Good point.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Actually, the sense of treating others the way you want to be treated OR BETTER is a pretty universal desire that extends beyond any religion. I mean, really, who says “treat me like crap but I will treat you far better?” Not to go too far down a bunny path, but the notion of humanity is that we want to be treated nice SO THAT WE WILL BE TREATED NICE TOO.
Not terribly altruistic in that approach to life.
There are ways of viewing the world that say treat others better than you are treated.

But the notion that there isn’t a place for tough justice won’t be found in any of the world’s three great monotheistic religions – nor will it be found in many other religions and non-religious worldviews. Justice, as expressed in many legal systems, means getting what you have earned…. an eye for an eye comes to mind but so does the concept of Karma.

Other than the notion some would like to pursue here that I should just ignore how other people have treated me, I’m not sure what the point is.
I do very much get that this is an internet chat forum that involves people at all walks of life and different levels of knowledge and experience.

What has been very apparent for years is that there are people here and in all phases of life who refuse to admit that someone else might very well know about a particular subject than others. I don’t pretend to know how to fly a jetliner, maintain it, or even know current service or safety procedures that professionals in the industry use every day.
It continues to puzzle what it is about some people that find it so hard to admit that someone else can’t admit that someone else knows more and work over-time to try to discredit someone rather than admit someone else is right.

I don’t really care whether Q ever worked for DL or not – but Kev’s little revelation raises a whole lot of questions that Q himself can answer if he wants including why did you leave DL? What did you think you would find at NW and did you find it? and why have you been so hostile to DL since returning to the “Delta family” (and each reader of this forum can judge how they view any participant on this forum but it would take a major stretch to believe that he would be considered supportive of the company that provides the benefits that he now enjoys and will enjoy.? He earned some of them at NW but some of them are solely the result of DL’s efforts to manage its own business in the way that meets its values and corporate objectives.

There continues to be an ongoing and deep theme on a number of aviation chat forums regarding the deep fissures that still remain between some PMNW people and DL people and the corporate values. The pilots continue to wrestle deeply with the issue and it extends all the way to the philosophy of labro leadership. Chat forums barely existed at all during DL’s Western merger and PA acquisition but I can’t remember there being such a core group of people who have been as resistant as has been the case with the NW merger.

NW was DL’s best merger ever in terms of launching DL into the global marketplace and rounding out DL’s US network and adding a whole lot of super high quality people to DL’s workforce. I have serious doubts that there will ever be another merger between DL and another US carrier although it is possible that there could be a multinational merger. But can you imagine the chat boards in France if Delta was allowed to and proceeded to buy out Air France/KLM?

There were friendships that were made because of the merger. There were visits to new cities and even each others’ homes that took place between DL and NW people. Yet there remain very real ideological differences between a core few which look like enormous wedges because those involved are some of the most vocal on both sides. The vast majority of people have adapted and don’t have strong attachments one way or the other to their employer; they work for a paycheck and want the biggest one possible and don’t care how they get it – which also explains why the labor movement has made so little headway at DL.

Specific to this thread, DL is a very profitable and well-run company that is succeeding at one major strategic initiative after another. I enjoy discussing DL’s successes because I have respected DL since I wasn’t old enough to even worry about work – and the internet certainly didn’t exist.

I take nothing away from anyone who has a different view but I certainly am not going to softpedal DL’s successes in a highly competitive industry that will rise and fall based on winning in the marketplace instead of so many of the ridiculous things that seem to get discussed here. Competition is messy and it leaves casualties.
We all need boundaries and values to guide our behaviour but at the end of the day, the airline industry is a highly competitive business that is being increasingly run by sharp and aggressive business people.
Anyone that wants to talk about an industry like the airline industry should never forget that context.

 

[Kev3188]

That's a helluva rabbit hole. Is this your way of acknowledging that your actions on this board over the last few days have been out of line?

I don’t really care whether Q ever worked for DL or not

I find that hard to believe.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, it says this is an internet chat forum and not a place for roasting anyone's personality.

That goes both ways.

Now what do you have to contribute to DL's robust and growing profitability?

 

[Kev3188]

no, it says this is an internet chat forum and not a place for roasting anyone's personality.

Ah. Another several hundred word vanity post. Got it.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Wow, I take a little time away from here and WT has some kind of delusional meltdown worrying about who I am and what I have done.

It would be comical were it not so sad.

Kev3188, I appreciate your supportive posts, however I have no interest in entertaining his latest pshyco-fantasy trip.

I will just ignore him now and in the future. It seems that you and I are/were some of the last of a very few to engage him. Your on your own now.

 

[Kev3188]

I think I'm gonna join you... Much better use of time/energy...