Delta to offer severance payouts to 30,000 employees: Company says goal is to cut 2,000 jobs

from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:



Delta to offer severance payouts to 30,000 employees
Company says goal is to cut 2,000 jobs

By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/18/08

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines said it expects to cut about 2,000 jobs and ground dozens of jets this year as it struggles to ratchet down operations to offset soaring fuel costs.

Delta said it expects to cut about 1,300 front-line jobs such as flight attendants and airport agents this year through an early retirement program and voluntary severance program.

The carrier said it has targeted 700 administrative and management jobs for elimination.

The move comes amid growing signs of recession and the rising cost of jet fuel, Delta's biggest expense, which jumped to an all-time record last week.

Delta, which announced the measures ahead of an industry conference Tuesday, said it expects to hit most of its job cut targets through voluntary programs, hiring freezes and attrition. Some 30,000 of Delta's 50,000 mainline employees will be eligible for one of the programs.

However, the Atlanta-based airline also didn't rule out involuntary severances among its headquarters and administrative staff, where it has already been cutting jobs under an earlier-announced program.

In a presentation Tuesday to investors in New York, Delta President Ed Bastian emphasized that the airline will do what is needed to meet cost-cutting targets to offset jet fuel costs now expected to be about $900 million higher than earlier projections.

To the extent that Delta doesn't meet its job reduction goals in administrative jobs, "there will be involuntary furloughs," he said. "We are committed to getting our costs out of the business. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2008/03/18/GA__Delta_Jobs_0318.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

You're the first person on here to get this story right. There has been mass hysteria on the board today along the lines of "OMG DELTA'S FIRING 30,000 PEOPLE", but you're the first one I've seen that actually read far enough down to realize that it's actually a fifteenth of that.

If all 30,000 people decided to take Delta up on their offer! :)

Normally, there's a cap on how many people are allowed to participate. When a buyout is "oversubscribed", then there are predetermined rules as to who gets the package and who doesn't - these rules are spelled out in the buyout package. Usually, it's seniority-based, but some times it's first-come first-serve.

I've been through two buyouts during my career. Both times it was offered, I accepted, but in the second buyout, this exact scenario happened and I didn't make the cut seniority-wise to actually receive the buyout package. I ended up leaving 6 months later anyway due to the increased post-buyout workload.