StallFail

This is a company e-mail I just recieved from Scott Hall at ASA...

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. and the other big U.S. carriers are poised to make more cuts in available seats as the summer travel season ends this weekend, capping the industry’s deepest retrenchment since World War II.
Capacity at the six largest airlines, led by Delta, will shrink 6.8 percent by year’s end from 2008 levels, according to data compiled by flight information firm OAG Aviation Solutions for Bloomberg News. That’s equal to erasing the domestic network of US Airways Group Inc., the No. 6 U.S. carrier by traffic.
The analysis by OAG and a separate assessment by the Air Transport Association trade group show the scope of U.S. carriers’ pullback to counter slumping business travel in the recession and the usual end-of-year decline in leisure fliers. Some analysts say the reductions aren’t done.
“There’s no point putting seats in the air if people don’t want to fly,” said David Swierenga, president of aviation consulting firm AeroEcon in Round Rock, Texas. “A double-digit cut, more than 10 percent, in capacity is called for.”
The six biggest carriers posted a 4.2 percent slide in August traffic on their main jet operations, based on results released today by Delta and Southwest Airlines Co., the last two companies to report. It was the 15th straight monthly drop in miles flown by paying passengers.
Computing Capacity
Capacity is measured in available seat miles, or the number of seats multiplied by the number of miles flown. Airlines’ benefits from flying less are lower costs and fewer tickets for sale, a move intended to lead to higher fares.
OAG and the Washington-based Air Transport Association examined different groups of airlines in sizing up the industry’s full-year contraction. Carriers don’t report their planned reductions the same way and usually don’t announce what routes or flights they’re discarding.
OAG, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, reviewed post-Labor Day schedules to compute how much 2009 flying will be chopped in the U.S. and overseas by Delta, AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc., Southwest and US Airways. The ATA said industrywide seating capacity would fall 6.9 percent on domestic routes in 2009.
1942 Benchmark
That would be the most since a 12 percent drop in 1942, the first full year of U.S. involvement in World War II, according to ATA data. Based on available seats, the U.S. industry is about 450 times larger now than 67 years ago.
The ATA’s analysis means that the 2009 capacity cuts would dwarf airlines’ 3.9 percent pullback in 2002, the year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the 4.4 percent drop in 1974 amid the oil-price shock.
“As far as I’m concerned, they can’t cut enough capacity,” said Hunter Keay, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore. “Every little bit helps.”
ARTICLE CONTINUES - PASTE THE LINK BELOW IN THE ADDRESS BAR
U.S. Airlines? Cut in Seats to Be Deepest Since 1942 (Update2) - Bloomberg.com#



Why does he send doom and gloom e-mails to employees? We all know conditions are bad right now. Is he trying to get morale so low that we take a reduction in pay? I don't get it... Why beat a dead horse? What is the point of this? I guess I'm just ranting here... and drinking.

AirWillie

Yes it's for morale. Standard management practice. Along with announcements of furloughs 12 months in advance.

andy171773

Damn You Razor Ramon For Your Bad News!!!

Gunga Galunga

It's another form of SH's airline "malingering." He just wants to make sure everyone thinks the ship is sinking so when it comes time for more disappointing results on RFP bids and Delta block hours, he doesn't have to be held accountable. Then, he can point to the emails of doom and gloom he sent out once a month talking about how the airline skies are falling and say its not ASAs fault. Then, Brad will come out with a weekly update thanking ASA front line employees for their dedicated hard work and promising that more downsizing and job loss is going to position ASA for a better future. Then, we can all go on to said weekly update comments section and read FA peanut gallery cheers about go ASA, thanks brad, and git-r-done.

seafeye

Merger = lost jobs. But think of the bright side....Management will still get a bonus.

John Pennekamp

DING DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!

Scott is intensely political. He takes pleasure from pitting groups against each other, kind of like instigating a dog fight. Scott wants to get the pilot group thinking the sky is falling so that they go to ALPA and demand concessions. Which of course, they won't do, but it creates them a huge headache. It's no coincidence that ALPA is having elections right now. This is Scott throwing a monkey wrench into the works.

Of course, if asked, he'll just smile and say "hey, I just want to keep you guys informed. Things are bad, and we need to control costs". That's code for taking concessions. He doesn't even want concessions for the good of the company. Scott is a mercenary (he actually told me this once), he said he's "a hired gun" who does whatever they pay him to do. I guarantee he has no plans to retire from ASA management. He probably has something else lined up at every moment. He was hired by the "old" management to stick it to the union. That's what he does. Scott wants concessions to make ALPA look bad, pure and simple. Scott is a true union buster, and that's why they keep him around. SKW would like nothing more than to see our union weakened. Whipping up the pilot group into a frenzy, thinking that "the Titanic is sinking and ALPA is fiddling on the deck" is the best weapon he has against them. Hence the emails.

EWRflyr

Read "Confessions of a Union Buster" and you will see this is typical management doom and gloom communications to make employees think they should be happy for what they have. Corporate/employee communication departments at airlines are very good at what they do. There will always be something they can point to in order to keep employees from asking for anything. Don't buy it.

In 2007-2008 when oil was making its way to stratospheric (and universally believed unjustified and unsustainable) highs, Continental employee communications and management would remind us on an almost daily basis of how high oil prices hurt the company. All of us at CAL can quote it verbatim: "For every $1 increase in the price of oil, it costs Continental an extra $44 million a year for fuel."

But wait, it gets better. When the price was going down, do you think management put that out on a daily basis? (Price is down $5 today so we just saved $220 million in fuel costs on an annualized basis.) NO! Our communications department managed to find some Wall Street analyst's article which said essentially that while the price of oil going down may appear to help the airlines it actually hurts the airlines financially! Can you believe it. In hindsight maybe it was true since the fuel hedgers at all the airlines managed to gamble away employees job security.

Roll your eyes to 90% of the stuff that comes out from management to employees. Then take a look at their pay over the past 10 years compared to your own. Do you think they are having any problems keeping up with inflation??

FlyASA

I guess we'll find out how good that no-furlough clause is next year when we lose the 20 -200s.

It doesn't sound like we are going to win any RFPs.

geekmaster

Actually, this one's much simpler than that. It's aimed at painting as bleak a picture as possible so that when PBS gets finished up, we will be far more likely to vote yes.

The next approach you will see is that management will start to "leak" rumors out that say the United RFP is a "done deal" IF we can get PBS in place by then.

It's basic posturing guys. No different than us taking a strike vote and publishing the results in big ole letters for management to see. It's meant make the other side feel a bigger sense of urgency.

JetPipeOverht

PBS is a lock if they can guarantee vacation stretching ( like always ), quality of life will improve, integration days go away, and bring back the furloughs...if not....ABSOLUTELY no chance