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Delta Air Lines to slash up to 8,000 more jobs

Delta Air Lines, still afflicted by weak demand and cheap ticket prices, will slash another 7,000 to 8,000 jobs in a move that will reduce its payroll by 25 percent since last year's terrorist attacks.

With the cuts announced Thursday, Delta has cut 21,000 employees since Sept. 11, 2001.

Delta said no work group except pilots -- the airline's only large unionized labor bloc -- would be spared in this round of cuts. Last year, pilots were told to expect as many as 1,400 layoffs.

"Until demand returns and business conditions otherwise improve, Delta's survival and our potential for future success requires that we maintain tight control of all facets of the business," chairman and CEO Leo F. Mullin said in a memo to employees. "And we must continue making the difficult but necessary decisions that will allow us to emerge successfully following these changing times."

The cuts come two days after the Atlanta-based carrier posted a third-quarter loss of US$326 million and said it did not see any improvement anytime soon. Since Jan. 1, Delta has lost US$909 million, nearly double what it lost in the first nine months of 2001.

Delta, the nation's third-largest airline, said it can't raise ticket fares and still remain competitive, and it already cut other areas.
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