Business News of Friday, 7 June 2013

Source: Charles Nimmo N-Mensah

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New York, USA — Say Good bye to Terminal 3 at JFK Airport, Queens, New York, if you ever traveled through Delta Airlines Terminal 3. Terminal 3 has a historic past as it was used by the defunct Pan American World Airways, known as Pan Am.

In a major step forward, Delta Airlines has moved to Terminal 4 by investing $1.4 billion and making it a state of the art facility for international travelers.

In presenting this project to the media, Delta Airlines on May 23rd-24th invited journalists from around the world for an international Media Summit which occurred at the Westin Times Square, Manhattan, New York, a block from the New York Port Authority on 42nd Street.

On the opening day of the summit, members of the international media gathered for a press conference with Richard Anderson – the Chief Executive Officer of Delta Airlines. Some of the biggest and world renowned media houses for business travel were at the ceremony.

Mr. Anderson expressed his pride in leading such a great organization through the necessary steps to become one of the leading airlines in the world. He was exceptional in presenting his vision to the members of the media. What was interesting at the Press conference was during the question and answer time when journalists asked questions in diverse languages and were translated.

In recent times there have been a myriad of complains from many Ghanaian travelers all over the United States who travel on Delta Airlines . The press conference ushered in a rare opportunity to address these concerns with Company.

Mr. Anderson was asked about the steps he will take as a leader in building a relationship with the Ghanaian community in New York since it is common knowledge that many Ghanaian travelers have had bad experiences with Delta Airlines through the Direct flight route from JFK. The Delta leadership have not reached out to the community as part of their corporate social responsibilities. It appears Delta seems to focus heavily in Ghana for the market. The route deserves better aircraft’s and great customer service. Mr. Anderson affirmed that the Ghanaian market was an important one since Delta is the only US Airline currently flying directly to Ghana and will take steps to address any issues brought to his attention.

The key points noted at the Press conference was how Delta is;

-Committed to being the best in the world

-Building strong relationship with partners in the world.

-Recognizes JFK as its leading Gateway to the US, Nearly 35% Delta’s Transatlantic flights operate via JFK. JFK is a critical airport for business passengers.

-Recognizes its employees and invests in its people.

-Is an iconic brand in the aviation world.

-Investing in operations and product as well as improving customer service

-Taking a step to owning an oil refinery company.

-Adding a partnership with Virgin Atlantic. The deal is going through both the US and UK regulatory process and will get it through by the 3rd Quarter.

Perry A. Cantarutti, Snr. Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa also went further to brief journalists on what Mr. Anderson had earlier said at the Press conference. He mentioned he appreciated the question posed to Mr. Anderson and will take steps to build a strong relationship with the Ghanaian community. Gail Grimmett, Senior Vice President, NY and Olivia Cullis, Regional Director, Corporate Communications respectively also shared the same idea that they will work together with the community in an effort to build better relationship and communication.

An Economic Development/Tourist Panel Discussion took place with panelists who have enormous experience in Tourism and Business. Moderated by; Bob Losure, Former CNN Headline News anchor, correspondent and author.

The Finale, the grand opening of state of the art Terminal 4 was like a movie premiere, full of pomp and pageantry. It featured some of the noted dignitaries/speakers; Delta’s CEO, Richard Anderson, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group and New York Mayor Bloomberg, New York Lt. Governor, Robert Duffy, .US Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx), US Rep.Gregory Weldon Meeks (D-New York’s 5th congressional district) and others. A visit to the Sky Club was one of a kind. One thing for sure, travelers waiting at the airport, will not be bored. There are many popular restaurants, shops and a lot to do before boarding the plane.

The international summit and was a good platform to establish a great relationship with some of the executives of Delta Airlines. It was also a meeting to network with Journalists. At the end of it all, there are the right people to discuss issues concerning the Ghanaian traveler.

Some people have shared their bad experiences with this writer upon informing them about the new Terminal 4.

One Traveler who had just returned from Ghana through Delta Airlines said Delta should give out forms for travelers to complete concerning their traveling experience or complains. It is up to the traveler to complete the form so that complains or their experiences can be communicated to the airline so something can be done about it immediately.

Acknowledgement – Global Media Alliance(gmaworld.com) and Delta Airlines

Source: Charles Nimmo N-Mensah (Mr. CNN). www.3gmediaonline.com/Ghanaweb.com

FLINT, MI — Delta Airlines is putting itself in position to gain from the loss of AirTran Airways flights to Atlanta.

Bishop Airport spokeswoman Pat Corfman said in an email today, May 8, that Delta has committed to adding 60 more seats a day from Flint to Atlanta by using an Airbus 319 on its daily noon departures starting in June.

A Delta spokesman confirmed the plan.

Delta was Bishop’s top airline in 2012, accounting for about 44 percent of all departing passengers from Flint. It flies two departures daily to Atlanta in addition to flights to Detroit and Minneapolis.

Airline spokesman Anthony Black said Delta will use a 126-seat Airbus to replace an existing 60-seat regional jet flight at Bishop. making room for more fliers.

“It is in place to capture what we believe will be increased demand,” Black said.

Delta recently announced something similar at the Greater Rochester International Airport in Rochester, N.Y., according to a report in the Rochester Business Journal.

Delta is upgrading its fleet in Rochester — also to provide more seats for nonstop flights to Atlanta beginning in July, the report says.

Like Flint, Rochester also recently lost AirTran service to Atlanta.

Until last month, both Delta and AirTran ferried Flint fliers to and from Atlanta, but Southwest Airlines shifted flights in a new direction when it took over AirTran operations at Bishop.

A Southwest spokeswoman said this week that the airline is constantly reviewing the markets it serves and could make changes in its routes based on customer demand and profitable routes.

The airline’s Flint schedule through the December holiday includes nonstop flights to Tampa, Orlando, Baltimore, and Las Vegas.

Southwest has actually increased seat availability for customers by 14 percent and increased the number of available destinations by 40 percent compared to AirTran Service.

KNOXVILLE (WATE) – Changes by Delta Airlines mean one less flight in and out of McGhee Tyson Airport.

Delta announced Wednesday it will stop using Memphis as a hub of operations and will cut flights to Memphis by 30%.

Becky Huckaby, spokeswoman for McGhee Tyson Airport, said one of those flights being eliminated serves Knoxville.

Huckaby said Memphis is traditionally less of a destination for Knoxville travelers, more often a
connecting point for other flights.

The change will be coming in September.

Delta told employees that the move comes because Memphis is not profitable as a hub.

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Greensboro, NC — Four Delta Airlines flights heading to Atlanta Wednesday night were redirected, leaving hundreds of people waiting at PTI Airport.

Russell Cason, spokesman for Delta Airlines, said the airline had to divert a total of 31 flights to cities across the Southeast as severe storms passed over Atlanta.

Delta sent planes to Charlotte, Knoxville, Asheville, Savannah, and several other locations in the region.

The storms lasted about an hour, and flights into and out of Atlanta were able to get back on schedule without much delay.

Delta Airlines

Posted: Monday, May 20, 2013 10:47 am

Delta airlines to bring more jobs to the Range

By BILL HANNA
Mesabi Daily News

Grand Rapids Herald-Review

CHISHOLM — Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson wants “to put together a long-term hiring plan” for the company’s reservations center in Chisholm that would increase the facility’s employment, which is now about 500 full-time equivalents.

And he wants to do so soon.

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Monday, May 20, 2013 10:47 am.

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Delta Airlines,

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Herald-review

(Memphis) After September 3, Memphis will no longer be a hub for Delta Airlines.

This will mean the loss of 230 jobs.

According to Delta, “Despite a series of adjustments in recent years, high fuel costs and the predominant use of inefficient 50-seat regional jets in a small local-traffic market have made Memphis unprofitable as a hub. As we work to find the right level of service, the fall 2013 Memphis schedule will be reduced to approximately 60 daily flights.”

Delta plans to offer jobs elsewhere to those affected, “There are positions available for every eligible employee who stands to be affected by the schedule reduction at other locations across the system. Additionally, we have created a voluntary 55-point retirement package for MEM-based ACS and Cargo employees. We will also insource all ramp work beginning September 3.”

Commissioner Chris Thomas told us, “I’m very speechless and disappointed in this. I’m not really surprised because they’ve been cutting flights but this will hurt our economy and our image.”

Commissioner Terry Roland, “We need to get a lower price airline in here anyway. Delta has had a monopoly and I think if we can do something to get another airline it here it will bring the cost of flying.”

Read the Delta memo

Click here for reactions from Mid-South residents

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (FOX13) –

Despite a series of adjustments in recent years, high fuel costs and the predominant use of
inefficient 50-seat regional jets in a small local-traffic market have made Memphis unprofitable as a hub. As we work to find the right level of service, the fall 2013 Memphis schedule will be reduced to approximately 60 daily flights. This will unfortunately require a reduction of approximately 230 Memphis Airport Customer Service and Delta Cargo positions effective September 3.

FULL STATEMENT:
http://content.foxtvmedia.com/whbq/GilTonyMemotoMEMACSCGOemployeesFINAL.PDF

There are positions available for every eligible employee who stands to be affected by the schedule reduction at other locations across the system. Additionally, we have created a voluntary 55-point retirement package for MEM-based ACS and Cargo employees. We will also insource all ramp work beginning September 3. There will be many moving parts as the reduction process plays out through the summer.

Whether or not your job will be affected depends on what your seniority will
hold once we know how many take the 55-point retirement option.

Eligible employees will soon be provided with a packet that contains details of your options,
including a voluntary retirement package, transfer options with relocation assistance or furlough with severance pay. There is also a QA document that will answer many of your early questions.

We know you’ll study these options carefully and please know that your leadership will be available to help you determine what is right for you and your families.

Delta has a tradition of taking care of its people and especially when the tough realities of our
business present themselves. You have our shared commitment that your questions and concerns will be addressed in the weeks ahead. Please take advantage of the resources you’ll have access to with ACS, Cargo and HR leaders in Memphis today and through the summer.
The new schedule will preserve nearly all the top destinations for Memphis customers. The biggest piece of the schedule reduction is 50-seat regional jet flying, as those aircraft begin to come out of the fleet.

We appreciate your professionalism and understanding of this tough business decision.

Gil Tony

By Alwyn Scott

(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines wants the U.S. Export-Import Bank to stop helping state-owned foreign airlines buy wide-body jets from Boeing Co , and would be willing to forgo such support for its own purchases of smaller jets if all such subsidies were eliminated, the chief executive said on Wednesday.

“We would be perfectly willing, if we had a total moratorium on narrow-body and wide-body financing, to forego” export credit help on narrow-body jet purchases, Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in an interview with Reuters.

“We are trying to do whatever we can to get a level playing field in a world where my government decides that they would rather have my competitors in the marketplace than Delta,” he added.

He said airlines with good credit can get market-rate funding without “giving them the balance sheet of the U.S. government.”

Last month Delta sued the Ex-Im bank to stop such support of wide-body jet sales, affecting Boeing’s 777 and 787 planes, noting especially Emirates airline and Korean Air as among the biggest buyers who do not need U.S. government support. Delta was joined in the lawsuit by the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 47,000 pilots at 28 U.S. airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, the largest carrier in Hawaii.

In the interview, Anderson said he is not opposed to the Ex-Im Bank in general, or export credits for sales of smaller, narrow-body jets if the export credit system was reformed.

But he said it was wrong for the U.S. to decide that manufacturers such as Boeing are more deserving of export credits than airlines and other travel services companies.

“I don’t think there is any good rationale for deciding that any manufacturing production in the U.S. is more important than travel and tourism, which is a much bigger contributor to GDP in the U.S. than manufacturing,” he said.

In its lawsuit, Delta says that about 46 percent of the $106.6 billion in U.S. Ex-Im Bank’s current financial commitments are for aircraft loans or loan guarantees.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Bernard Orr)

By Alwyn Scott

(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines Inc wants the U.S. Export-Import Bank to stop helping state-owned foreign airlines buy wide-body jets from Boeing Co , and would be willing to forgo such support for its own purchases if all such subsidies were eliminated, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

“We would be perfectly willing, if we had a total moratorium on narrow-body and wide-body financing, to forego” export credit help on narrow-body jet purchases from Bombardier , Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in an interview with Reuters.

In December, Delta ordered 40 Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets with an option for 30 more in a deal worth up to $3.29 billion.

“We are trying to do whatever we can to get a level playing field in a world where my government decides that they would rather help my competitors in the marketplace than Delta,” he added.

Airlines with good credit can get market-rate funding without “giving them the balance sheet of the U.S. government,” Anderson said.

Delta sued the Ex-Im bank last month in an effort to stop support for Boeing’s 777 and 787 planes, noting that Emirates airline and Korean Air are among the aircraft’s biggest buyers and do not need U.S. government aid. Delta was joined in the lawsuit by the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 47,000 pilots at 28 U.S. airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, the largest carrier in Hawaii.

The U.S. Ex-Im Bank said its policies supported some 85,000 U.S. aerospace jobs last year.

“As long as other export credit agencies around the world continue to support their aerospace companies, Ex-Im will continue to provide financing to ensure a level-playing field for American companies and to prevent a loss of jobs here at home,” the bank said in a statement emailed on Wednesday.

In the interview, Anderson said he is not opposed to the Ex-Im Bank in general, or export credits for sales of smaller, narrow-body jets if the export credit system was reformed.

But he said it was wrong for the U.S. to decide that manufacturers such as Boeing are more deserving of export credits than airlines and other travel services companies.

“I don’t think there is any good rationale for deciding that any manufacturing production in the U.S. is more important than travel and tourism, which is a much bigger contributor to GDP in the U.S. than manufacturing,” he said.

In its lawsuit, Delta says that about 46 percent of the $106.6 billion in U.S. Ex-Im Bank’s current financial commitments are for aircraft loans or loan guarantees.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott in Seattle,; additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Doug Palmer in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Bernard Orr and Leslie Gevirtz)

NEW YORK (AP) — Delta’s formula for winning over New York travelers is simple: floor-to-ceiling windows, abundant power outlets and a burger joint with a cult-like following.

The airline opened a sprawling $1.4 billion terminal at Kennedy Airport Friday, a facility more suitable to the high-paying passengers it is trying to attract.

The 346,000-square-foot concourse offers upscale food and shopping options, increased seating and sweeping views of the airport.

It replaces a terminal built by Pan Am in 1960 that was once cutting-edge but had deteriorated, becoming an embarrassing way to welcome millions of visitors to the United States.

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson said his customers “and the residents of New York now have the international hub facility that they expect and deserve.”

Kennedy Airport is still the primary gateway to the U.S. It welcomed 13.1 million inbound international passengers last year, more than any other American airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Miami International Airport was next at 9.8 million, followed by Los Angeles International Airport at 8.3 million.

Delta carries about 2.1 million of those arriving international passengers at JFK, more than any other airline, according to the airport’s operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The facility doesn’t compare to the over-the-top cathedrals to air travel that some cities in Asia and the Middle East have built in the last decade. But travelers will appreciate both the big and small touches. The concourse houses local restaurant favorites like Blue Smoke and Shake Shack, a New York-based burger chain. Meanwhile, 75 percent of seats at the gates have access to electric outlets.

The most unique part is a 2,000-square-foot rooftop deck that offers a close-up view of the runways and airplanes. But it is part of a new Delta Sky Club — the largest in the Atlanta-based airline’s system — accessible only to members or passengers flying in transcontinental or international business class.

Like at any modern airport, fliers should be prepared for a long walk — it can take up to 15 minutes to reach the furthest gate.

“I did need a plane ride to get from the entrance to here today,” joked U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.

The expansion added nine new gates at the terminal. Construction is expected to soon begin on 11 additional gates for Delta’s smaller regional jets.

The airline hopes by 2015 to move all of its operations to Terminal 4. Until then, Delta will use a fleet of ten buses to shuttle passengers between Terminal 4 and its other operation in Terminal 2. Delta’s lease in that terminal ends in 2020.

New York is one of the few big cities in the U.S. not dominated by one airline. Carriers fight viciously to win the business of bankers, lawyers and consultants based in the city whose companies pay top dollar for last-minute flights.

United Airlines, which primarily flies out of Newark Liberty International Airport — across the Hudson River in New Jersey — is the region’s largest carrier, flying 27.4 million passengers in the 12 months ending in March.

Delta is now a close second, with 23 million passengers annually in New York. JetBlue follows with 14.6 million and then comes American Airlines with 13.9 million.

“Not only is New York the largest single U.S. air travel market, but and is also the largest premium business airline market in the country,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Hudson Crossing. “Airlines that serve New York must bring their ‘A game’ to everything they do, including the airport experience.”

Delta’s strategy in New York is to capture business travelers with more pleasant experience — better planes, friendlier staff and more non-stop flights.

Having those passengers arrive and depart from a rundown terminal didn’t fit with that image.

Demolition crews had already started work Friday on Delta’s old Terminal 3. It was originally called Pan Am’s Worldport, a futuristic concrete structure with a roof resembling a flying saucer. The building helped usher in the modern jet age with Pan Am’s fleet of Boeing 707 Clippers departing there for all parts of the world.

When The Beatles first arrived in the U.S. in February 1964, they came through Worldport. And when the first 747 to carry passengers departed for London in 1970, it left from the iconic terminal.

But in the decades since, the terminal fell into disarray. Pam Am struggled financially and never updated the facility. Delta ended up with the terminal when it purchased many of its Pan Am’s remaining assets out of bankruptcy in the early 1990s.

But the building wasn’t designed for connecting passengers from one flight to another let alone post-9/11 security. Asbestos abatement made any renovations costly.

Last year, travel guide Frommer’s named it the worst airport terminal in America “and probably in the Western world.”

“There’s a sense that the cleaning crew gave up in despair a while ago,” Frommers wrote.

In its final months, the terminal was known for its leaking roof. Ugly white tarps were hung from the ceiling by steel cables. At the center of each tarp a clear garden hose drained water away as passengers below stood in line, waiting to check their luggage. Some days it seemed like only the pigeons — and there were plenty of them — enjoyed flying from the terminal.

The new terminal is up against some impressive competition.

American already has a sleek, airy, $1.3 billion terminal at JFK. JetBlue’s $800 million terminal opened in 2008 with boutique restaurants that had passengers almost wishing for a flight delay.

United isn’t sitting by quietly either. The airline announced Friday morning that it was “the only U.S. carrier” offering fully flat beds on all long-haul international flights from the New York area.

Delta has already improved its LaGuardia terminal, spending $160 million on renovations. It also brought in OTG Management to set up upscale dinning including a French brasserie, a custom hamburger outlet and a restaurant featuring fancy thin-crust pizzas. Fliers can even order food from iPads and have it delivered to them at their gate.

The airline is also spending heavily to show off its brand throughout the city. It is the official airline of the Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Rangers and has large sponsorship deals with Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden.

__

Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.