Company Watch - Delta Air Lines.

Nov 27, 2006

Delta Air Lines bondholders have formed an informal group that appears inclined to back, or at least strongly consider, the US offer, according to The Wall Street Journal. DL creditors Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers Holdings reportedly pressed bondholders to push management to consider the US proposal. Nov 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines pilot chairman says merger appears 'misguided' as DL, US execs push rival plans. Delta Air Lines' pilots union chairman was harshly critical of US Airways' proposed $8 billion takeover, saying in a letter to the carrier's 6,000 pilots that "on the surface, [the offer] appears to lack any substantial benefit for Delta, its employees, our communities, or our customers." Nov 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines' rebuke from Air Line Pilots Assn. Delta MEC Chairman Lee Moak came this week amid dueling public relations campaigns by the two carriers. US management distributed a newsletter claiming its offer is "just better" than DL's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a standalone operator. It said DL's reorganization plan, expected to be filed in bankruptcy court next month, "cannot possibly" offer value comparable to the takeover proposal. For their part, DL executives insisted the offer is inferior to their plan and are pressing creditors to back the airline's effort to remain independent. Nov 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines's pilots may offer stiff opposition to the US plan, with Moak telling fellow pilots that US Airways executives "alarmingly" may seek "to lengthen Delta's time in bankruptcy to try to accomplish their goals while providing no incremental job security to the Delta pilots." Moak promised to study the US plan carefully and keep an open mind. However, "should this merger be as misguided and as poor an idea as I currently believe it to be, then I will deploy every available resource to stop it," he warned. Nov 23, 2006

Delta Air Lines bondholders have begun organizing an informal group to support US Airways' USD$8.78 billion takeover offer for the bankrupt carrier, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. The group is considering all options but could end up pressing Delta creditors to accept the US Airways bid, which faces some skepticism from Delta's management and larger creditors, the source said. Nov 22, 2006

Delta Air Lines employees are against a takeover of the carrier by US Airways, workers' representatives said on Tuesday. US Airways made an unsolicited USD$8 billion bid for its larger rival last week. Delta has said it will review the offer as it is obligated to do so, but that it remains focused on emerging from bankruptcy protection as a stand-alone carrier. The airline's pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association, also expressed doubts about the likelihood of a successful merger. Delta has about 6,000 active pilots. Delta Air Lines employees expect the savings would have to come at their expense, Morey said, adding that synergies was "just a cold word for cost cutting." The council has come up with buttons that say: "Keep Delta My Delta!" to express their opposition and start conversations with customers, Morey said. Nov 22, 2006

Delta Air Lines, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2005, has cut wages and laid off workers as part of its efforts to realize USD$3 billion a year in cost cuts and revenue increases. The Atlanta-based airline expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2007. Nov 22, 2006

One issue Delta Air Lines will not address is the 60-year age limit for US airline pilots. "This is an issue the FAA should deal with, not Congress," Whitehorn said. "Don't put members in that position of having to make that decision." Nov 22, 2006

Delta Air Lines cast the recalls as part of its broader plan to reemerge from Chapter 11 protection next year as a profitable carrier with a greatly expanded international network. The airline added that it expects "an additional pilot recall this year." Nov 21, 2006

Delta Air Lines CFO Ed Bastian told the Financial Times that DL's reorganization plan, to be issued in mid-December, will be "strong" and give the carrier's creditors "much more confidence and certainty" than the US offer.

Nov 21, 2006

Delta Air Lines management has been feverishly rejecting US Airways' proposed $8 billion takeover insisting it will file its own reorganization plan next month. "Delta continues to make significant progress in all areas of its restructuring and remains on track to emerge from Chapter 11 during the first half of 2007 as a standalone carrier," it said. Nov 21, 2006

Delta recalls workers, emphasizes plan to emerge as standalone carrier. Delta Air Lines said yesterday that it will recall 700 additional furloughed maintenance workers beginning in mid-December, bringing to more than 2,000 the number of employees the bankrupt carrier has recalled in recent months, including 200 previously announced maintenance personnel, 1,000 flight attendants and 130 pilots. Nov 21, 2006

Delta Air Lines CEO Gerald Grinstein, meanwhile, reportedly held multiple conference calls with the bankrupt carrier's creditors to argue against the takeover and for Delta's re-emergence from Chapter 11 as a standalone airline. Creditors will play a big role in determining the fate of DL, and both Grinstein and US Chairman and CEO Doug Parker likely will court them aggressively. Nov 20, 2006

Delta Air Lines said it will launch daily New York JFK-Phoenix service on Feb. 15 aboard a 737-800. Nov 20, 2006

US Airways has said a merger could provide annual savings of USD$1.65 billion and cut capacity by 10 percent, with labor cuts achieved through attrition and leaves. Nov 22, 2006

US Airways, Delta Air Lines merger also could be derailed by US Dept. of Justice antitrust officials, who blocked the proposed merger of the former US Airways and United Airlines on grounds that it was anticompetitive and likely would offer consumers diminished service for higher fares. In a filing Friday with the US SEC, US Airways argued that the domestic "airline industry will remain unconcentrated" after the merger and that the rise of LCCs since 2000 ensures robust competition. Nov 20, 2006

US Airways: New Delta will be 'low-cost maverick'. Calling itself "a pro-consumer maverick," US Airways moved quickly Friday to head off an antitrust challenge to its proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines, asserting in a government filing that the "New Delta" will offer "consumer-friendly fares" and will not stifle competition in a market in which LCCs play a significant role. Nov 20, 2006

Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Nov 13, 2006