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Fayette taking ‘wait-and-see’ approach to Delta’s woes

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Fayette County is taking a “wait and see” attitude to last week’s news that Delta Air Lines faces more reductions in jobs, salaries and benefits if it intends to avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Company CEO Jerry Grinstein told employees in an Aug. 18 memo, “When our plan is successfully implemented, we will be the leaner, simplified, more productive airline we must be in order for us to survive and compete.”

But details of the “Transformation Plan,” which Grinstein dubbed the “Delta Solution,” have yet to be released.

Salary cuts or layoffs could have a notable impact in Fayette County, where 3,562 Delta employees live, according to information provided by the airline to the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce in May of this year.

That total represents 17 percent of Delta’s 21,000 workers in metro Atlanta.

Delta employees who live in Fayette County are well-paid, earning an average salary of $92,829 annually, said Chamber President Virginia Gibbs.

That suggest that many of Delta’s local workers are pilots and other “high-end employees,” said Gibbs.

Brian Cardoza, president of the Fayette County Development Authority, said he has met with representatives of both the state Department of Labor and the Atlanta Regional Commission to talk about what resources are available should there be significant layoffs to Delta’s Fayette County workforce.

The chamber and the authority have activated a website that offers links to a host of resources for workers who find themselves suddenly out of work or facing a career change.

The site, called Team Fayette, was originally put together following 9/11 and has been updated, said Gibbs. It can be accessed at www.fayettega.org/teamfayette.htm.

Other than that, there’s not a lot either organization can do to soften the impact Delta layoffs may have on the business community.

“I think people are being smart about things,” said Gibbs. “As I look at my own neighbors and friends in that industry or who work supporting that industry, I think people are just trying to cut back, not extend themselves any further.

“I think there is a healthy ‘let’s look at our budgets’ and be thoughtful about our expenditures we make,” she said.

Added Cardoza, “With 3,500-plus employees you’re obviously going to see some of those without jobs. We’d like to see as few as possible.”

Local businesses aren’t the only ones concerned with how Delta’s future impacts the wallet.

Members of the Fayette County Board of Education considered the airline’s plight last week before it agreed to the terms of a November bond referendum on school construction.

“We’re very cognizant about what’s going on with the economy and Delta,” said Superintendent John DeCotis.

The 20-year bonds voters will be asked to approve in November will require no increase in the millage rate, said DeCotis, but instead will rely on increases in the tax digest. And the board will have the leeway to levy the bonds as needed, and not all at once.

The plan, proposed and written by Citicorp, has never been used in Georgia, DeCotis said.

Cardoza said Fayette Countians can take comfort in the diverse economy that has emerged here in recent years, one that is far less dependent on the airline industry than it once was.

“If you look at our existing industries, we have corporate headquarters, high technology, manufacturing,” he said. “And our unemployment is so low, at less than 3 percent, it’s as if we have no unemployment at all.”

“Manufacturers tell me all the time they can’t find any workers,” Cardoza said. “So there could be opportunities for the businesses already here to take advantage of job losses at Delta.”

Cardoza said he’s confident that even with Delta losses, the impact will be short-term locally.

“Talking to existing industries and other companies looking for future growth, Fayette County has some great opportunities to create new jobs and new opportunities in the very near future,” said Cardoza. “If half the things happen that we’re hearing might happen, we’ll be doing well.”