Company Watch - Delta Air Lines.

For more company news, data and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Aug 28, 2006

Bombardier said it had not yet been provided with a tail number for the aircraft involved in the fatal accident. Bombardier would not speculate on the cause of the crash but said it would be cooperating with the US Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board. The Kentucky crash appears to be the second-worst in terms of fatalities involving a Bombardier regional jet. In November 2004, 47 passengers and six crew members died in the crash of a Bombardier regional jet flown by China Eastern Airlines in Baotou, in China's northern Inner Mongolia region. One person was killed on the ground. Aug 27, 2006

Bombardier, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer, said the 50-seat CRJ-100 regional jet in Sunday's crash in Lexington, Kentucky, was delivered new to Comair in 2001. Bombardier, the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker, said the plane that crashed was acquired new in January 2001 and was delivered January 30 of that year to Comair, a regional carrier operated by Delta Air Lines, and had a clean maintenance record, Bornhorst said. The aircraft had performed 12,048 takeoff and landing "cycles," he said. The crew was well rested and the weather did not appear to be a factor, he said. The plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were both recovered, according to media reports. Aug 27, 2006

Kentucky Plane Crash - 49 Dead. A small airliner carrying at least 50 people crashed and burst into flames on Sunday shortly after taking off from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, killing all but one on board, officials said. The plane was carrying 47 passengers and a three person crew but may also have been carrying an off-duty crew member. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash of Comair Flight 5191, which was bound for Atlanta, though visibility was good and it was not raining at the time, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. Local media said the plane, a Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100 jet that seats 52 passengers, may have departed from a runway that was too short -- half the length of the airport's longest 7,000-foot runway. There was no indication that terrorism was involved, a US Transportation Security Administration official said. One man survived and was in critical condition, a University of Kentucky Hospital spokesman said. It was not immediately known if the survivor was a passenger or a crew member. The local coroner, Gary Ginn, said the fire burned "very hot." All the bodies had been removed, he said. A Federal Aviation Administration official said the plane crashed in a farm field in rugged terrain and the fuselage was largely intact. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the crash investigation. Flights resumed at Lexington's 64-year-old airport, which serves half a dozen carriers, about four hours after the crash. Kentucky officials were on hand at a staging area at the adjacent Keeneland Race Course trying to determine if state workers might have been on board the flight. Aug 27, 2006

Green Building Council recognizes Delta's Logan terminal. Delta Air Lines' Terminal A at Boston's Logan International Airport has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Terminal A, which features a roofing membrane and paving designed to reflect heat from the building, is the first terminal in the world to earn LEED certification. Aug 27, 2006

Delta Air Lines is delving deeper into the Caribbean. Latest evidence: new nonstop service from JFK to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Daily MD-88 flights take wing September 9. Aug 25, 2006

Delta Air Lines said it is using a new decision support tool called Attila that allows it to manage landings in Atlanta better during congested periods. The program sends information from Delta's operations control center to cockpits to provide pilots with coordinated speed adjustments so landings are more evenly spaced. Aug 25, 2006

Delta's new nonstops out of Atlanta down to Santiago de Los Caballeros starts December 9, Dominican Republic; and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. While both runs are via 737-800, Santiago service is daily and Port of Spain operates four times a week. Aug 25, 2006

Delta Air Lines has made the self-service booking, check-in, loyalty program and shopping functions on its website available in Spanish. It added that it will introduce Spanish and French check-in kiosks early next year. Aug 24, 2006

Delta Air Lines will launch twice-daily Atlanta-Jacksonville service from Dec. 11 operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Aug 24, 2006

Delta Air Lines and IBM this week signed a seven-year agreement under which the carrier's IT infrastructure management will be outsourced to IBM. Aug 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines issues RFP for Regional flying in ongoing effort to cut costs. Delta issued an RFP for a portion of its Regional jet service--that currently operated by Delta Connection partners Comair, Chautauqua Airlines, Shuttle America and Freedom Airlines--as part of the restructuring of its network under bankruptcy proceedings.Comair is a wholly owned Delta subsidiary, Chautauqua and Shuttle America are subsidiaries of Republic Airways and Freedom is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group. Flying done by SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines is not included in the bid. Aug 23, 2006

Delta puts regional jet routes up for bidding. Delta Air Lines is looking for bidders for its regional jet service in a cost-cutting move. The routes put out for bidding include those flown by regional affiliates Comair and Skywest. Comair's chief executive says the bidding will force his airline to settle contract negotiations with three labor groups. Delta's RFP is for 143 regional jets includes 43 70-seaters and up to 50 50-seaters to replace existing flying from DL's Atlanta, New York JFK and Cincinnati hubs, along with some point-to-point flying. It also requests bids for flying up to 50 76-seat RJs that would incorporate first-class seating. Both Embraer with its 175 and Bombardier with the 705 and 900 offer aircraft in this size range. Aug 23, 2006

Judge approves Delta pension deal with retired pilots: A bankruptcy judge has approved an agreement to allow Delta Air Lines to pay $9 million in pension obligations to a group of retired pilots. Delta will soon ask the court to end its obligations under qualified pension plans; some retired pilots oppose the motion. Aug 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines said Friday that new security regulations have resulted in an approximately 20% increase in checked baggage on the mainline and a "negligible increase" aboard Delta Shuttle. The carrier has increased staffing to handle the additional workload and said that baggage operations "have returned to normal." Aug 21, 2006