Delta Offering Voluntary Severance Payouts

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines announced Friday that it will offer voluntary severance payouts to a large number of the 75,000 employees at Delta and Northwest's mainline operations as part of a plan to eliminate an unspecified number of jobs.

Chief Executive Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian reported in a memo to employees that the program is similar to one earlier this year that Delta used to cut approximately 4,000 jobs. Northwest had already trimmed jobs of its own before being acquired by Delta on Oct. 29.

According to executives, the cuts are needed because Delta will be reducing systemwide capacity next year by 6 percent to 8 percent as the weak economy has eroded demand for seats on airplanes.

The entire company, including regional subsidiaries Comair, Mesaba and Compass, fields approximately 85,000 employees. The 12,000 pilots of Delta and Northwest and a number of management and administrative employees do not qualify for the voluntary severance programs.

According to the company, the voluntary severance programs, to be offered next month, include one for employees with 10 or more completed years of service, whose completed years of age and service add up to at least 55. The second program is an early-out program to be offered to those employees who do not qualify for the first program but who are frontline/contract ground and flight attendant employees with five or more years of service and merit/salaried employees hired before the first of next year.