Delta expected to HIRE in 2007

[Kristie]

Got this from Doug...

Good afternoon everybody, this is Steve ****son with a special Flight Operations update on Wednesday, November 29th with some news about pilot staffing for 2007.



As all of you know, the active Delta pilot group has grown at a fairly regular pace since June of last year through a steady stream of recalls offered to our furloughed pilots. Today, I am very pleased to announce that we plan to continue that trend into 2007 based on the recent approval of our operating plan for the coming year. Over the course of 2007, our plan calls for an incremental gain of approximately 200 pilots above and beyond those that we have recalled for this fall; however “the plan” (as we all know) is subject to change based on our performance and needs going forward. Having said this, this is certainly a very positive development for all of us and I am very hopeful that we will have the opportunity to offer recall to all pilots who remain on furlough in the next year.

The pilots who will fill these requirements will come from a variety of sources including, of course, those pilots returning through the normal recall process, those who had previously bypassed and are in a bypass status now, military leave of absence, personal leave of absence, and - eventually - through the hiring process. In fact, in anticipation of the possibility that we might be hiring pilots some time next year, sometime ago I directed the stand-up of a new-hire committee. Former Salt Lake City Chief Pilot and flight operations general manager, retired Captain Jon Swift, enthusiastically agreed to lead this group, and they have made a significant amount of preparation and progress to date. More information regarding the Delta new-hire process will be forthcoming very soon as we get closer to completing the furlough recall process. So stay tuned for more information.

The pilots who are returning to us based on this announcement will provide some additional staffing in certain existing first officer categories, and also allow us to begin training in support of planned network changes for next year and the arrival of the additional 757 aircraft. While the number of recalls in January will be relatively small based on a need to catch up on some recurrent training that we have on the books, we do plan on adding approximately 20-30 pilots per month beginning in February and continuing through the first half of the year with additional recalls or new hire classes for later in 2007 at a schedule that will be determined in the future. More specific information regarding the number of recalls in the near term and training dates for orientation will be announced, again, in the very near future.

On last week’s code-a-phone, I talked about an advanced entitlement that’s coming up soon and that will set the stage for the pilots about to return and allow those of you on the line to bid into the category of your choosing before the recalled pilots arrive. I encourage you to update your preferences in DBMS before the bids are closed. We expect additional advanced entitlements to be posted in the late winter/early spring timeframe as we get certainty around the summer schedule.



Well, that’s it for today. Congratulations to all of you soon to return to a Delta cockpit and thank you for all of your continued support and professionalism in our cockpits and for taking such great care of our customers. Please stay focused on the operation, fly safe, and thanks for calling in.

this is good news... lets hope others join the process!