Monday, December 08, 2008: Delta Air Lines is expecting to lose between six and eight percent of its capacity in 2009, with the majority of these cuts to be domestic, the carrier said in an internal memo to employees.
2009 will see 8-10% less domestic capacity when compared to 2008 levels, and international rates will drop by between 3-5%, signalling that more jobs will likely also be cut.
“We are analyzing the impact on staffing as it pertains to these capacity reductions and, as in the past, we will offer voluntary programs to adjust staffing needs,” said Delta management in the memo.
The memo from Richard Anderson, Delta CEO, and Edward H. Bastian, Delta President, was issued to the airline’s 75,000 employees on Tuesday this week.
“Delta must take the necessary steps to adjust our business accordingly and make certain seat capacity meets customer demand. These economic hurdles are difficult, and we remain committed to building our company on a durable financial foundation with industry-leading liquidity,” they said.
“Even with the economic recession, we are achieving significant benefits from our merger [with Northwest] and will continue to do so.”
These new figures also include the capacity cuts previously announced in June.
Delta and Northwest completed their merge in October this year, creating the world’s largest carrier in terms of passenger traffic per annum. Prior to the merger, Delta announced 2,500 in job cuts, whilst Northwest cut 2,000.
