Delta Air Lines Prepares Chapter 11 Filing
 

n e w s wrote:
Delta Air Lines Inc. could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
as soon as next week, a source familiar with the matter said
yesterday.

Interesting timing. I was expecting this to happen after the elections.
Although I suspect this won't make much of a news dent in the USA with the
media in a pre-election frienzie.

What I don't quite understand is why there is an implied threath of bankrupcy
right away if pilots don't agree to concessions. There seems to be concensus
that bankrupcy is inevitable. Do pilots really have any incentive to get some
agreement before bankrupcy when they know perfectly well that any "wins" they
make can be voided weeks later when the judge voids their agreement ?

Seems to me that an agreement reached during bankrupcy and approved by a judge
stands more chances of surviving bankrupcy than any contract done prior to bankrupcy.

"nobody" wrote in message
...
n e w s wrote:
Delta Air Lines Inc. could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
as soon as next week, a source familiar with the matter said
yesterday.

Interesting timing. I was expecting this to happen after the elections.
Although I suspect this won't make much of a news dent in the USA with the
media in a pre-election frienzie.

What I don't quite understand is why there is an implied threath of
bankrupcy
right away if pilots don't agree to concessions. There seems to be
concensus
that bankrupcy is inevitable. Do pilots really have any incentive to get
some
agreement before bankrupcy when they know perfectly well that any "wins"
they
make can be voided weeks later when the judge voids their agreement ?

Seems to me that an agreement reached during bankrupcy and approved by a
judge
stands more chances of surviving bankrupcy than any contract done prior to
bankrupcy.

The argument is that if the pilots agree before a bankruptcy filing, the
filing may well be avoided, like with American Airlines last year. Remember
that there is a tremendous cost associated with bankrupty, including
administrative fees paid to the U.S. Trustee's office, as well as attorney's
fees in the millions of dollars, all of which could be more appropriately
used to fix the airline.

Cyrus Afzali wrote:
Wrong as usual. Bankruptcy is in no way a given if enough concessions
are reached. Look at US Air. Pilots there, seeing the writing on the
wall, decided it was better to keep negotiating when they still had an
opportunity to influence the eventual outcome. Once a carrier's in
bankruptcy, the ability of any one group to make a huge impact is
much, much less.


Yet, the negotiations of before bankrupcy did not ensure whatever contract
would survive and US Air is a good exmaple since pilots agreed to a even newer
contract with more pay cuts last week (inside bankrupcy).

And even inside bankrupcy, it isn't a given. Look at United. United now wanst
more concessions from employees.