Delta calling back 400 pilots, good idea?
 

What are your thoughts on Delta airlines?

Are they making a great maverick move by pulling guys back early? Is it too soon.

How do you think the recovery is going to go in the U.S, is there hope for 2021?

What lessons learned from all this?

(I think you get the feel for my post, I just want to talk about the broad landscape instead of the minutia of contracts).

They are guessing like most airline managements these days. And making plans to be able to handle a potential uptick in traffic based on those guesses.

They have about 1700 pilots categorized as "unassigned", i.e., no airplane, seat or base but still on the payroll (not laid off). They recently announced their intention to have all 1700 back by October of this year.

They also have ~1350 mandatory retirements through 2023.

Empirical data would suggest they are doing the right thing. From first hand conversations I have had with somebody who flies for DL the loads are definitely picking up. They have committed to keeping the middle seats open at least until the end of April. Also the routes that took a cut in frequency this time last year are coming back up to a full schedule again - it's looking like uptick in demand is already happening, and let's face it, they've certainly taken a hit or two recently for NOT having enough crew to operate the published schedule.

Yes, that's the way I understand it. The looming problem is getting everyone trained. It's not just the 1700+ unassigned pilots but all the active pilots who will be changing seats/airplanes. Big job ahead for the Steep Turn Academy.

did DL let them take early retirement?

There was a voluntary early-out retirement program (VEOP) where about 1,000-1,200 left early. The 1350 coming mandatory retirements are those who didn't take the VEOP as far as I can tell. The numbers get confusing pretty quickly.

OK...to amend my previous numbers which were apparently too low, 2,200+ signed up for the VEOP and ~2,000+ followed through and left.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN24L1U0

jowong1,

It took some research but this should answer your question. I thought I had the memo but it took me a while to find it:


August 21, 20-45


https://maassets.higherlogic.com/ima...sm_1023869.jpgVoluntary Early Out Program (VEOP) Results; Next Steps
The revocation period for the VEOP closed last night. Today, Delta announced that 1,806 pilots will be participating in this program as provided for in Letter of Agreement #20-02.

• 1,806 total pilots are participating in the VEOP
• 1,515 pilots will separate from Delta on 1 September 2020
• 1,589 pilots will separate by the end of the year

S42,

On a recent online town hall for unassigned Delta pilots, Delta said they want to have all unassigned pilots back...and through training...by early August. That's ~1700 pilots. The Puzzle Palace has a big job ahead of them to accomplish this...if they can. Even with farming out sim time it's still a tough order because there are only so many sim instructors and check airmen.

So Delta apparently feels it's necessary to get all the pilots back on board.

And what lessons were learned ? That no one knows for sure what's going on.

May economists are predicting ~10% GDP growth for the US this year due to massive pent-up demand. Those who have still been collecting a paycheck or are not dependent on a paycheck have had little to spend their money on for the last year and quite frankly people are sick of sitting at home and want to get out and do things.
I think Delta is just trying to get in front of the curve. I've flown a few times on Delta over the last six months - and the change just from November to January was pretty dramatic - going from maybe 50% of available seats (~1/3rd of the seats being blocked and unavailable) to near 100% of available seats.

you cant really underestimate the traffic of this years summer season, many people are willing to travel despite the economic situation as well the very low prices of the Tourism sector at the moment

There's already the usual speculation about new hiring in addition to recalling the unassigned pilots. Nothing concrete from the company.

There were people who had firm job offers and were awaiting a class date when the door slammed. IIRC, DL said they'd honor those job offers for a period of time but can't remember that time period. Same thing with people who had interviews scheduled.

Not sure what the head count is for either category but these two groups would likely supply the first new hiring (whenever THAT happens).

It's a tough game when guessing is the basis of decisions but perhaps DL should've started recalling a bit sooner:

“Deja Vu for the 3rd time: Delta Air Lines has cancelled nearly 100 flights this Easter weekend as the airline continues facing pilot staffing challenges. Additionally, we’ve seen a large amount of flights being severely delayed as well this weekend.”

“It’s very disappointing to see this, as this is the 3rd major holiday weekend in the past 6 months that Delta has had to cancel tons of flights due to pilot staffing issues.”

https://pointsmilesandmartinis.board...affing-issues/

United is even hiring new pilots.