Diana Surratt’s letter regarding Delta’s challenges and the recommendations for “more compassion ... trust ... and return to the former work ethics ...” would make a great scenario for a 1940s Jimmy-Stewart-style movie. The three components missing to bring the movie up to date are arrogance, greed and resentment. This problem is far beyond Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney exclaiming, “Let’s have a show.”

The beginning of the end of the “family airline” began with the arrogance of the “we can do no wrong” and “bigger is better” of the Ron Allen regime and the sinking of millions of dollars into the dilapidated equipment and facilities of Pan American and similar other costly ill-conceived ventures.

When the power-wielding stockholders finally saw we were on the road to hell, they tried a different direction with the selection of Leo Mullins.

The way I remember it, Mullins was the guru who was to put us back in the black. What happened to that concept?

Instead of putting his finger in the dike to stop the leak, he and his regime took a big piece of the dam and then one by one slipped into obscurity.

They had access to the writing on the wall well in advance and took cash from Delta’s coffers to insure their pensions. It was the classic “rats deserting a sinking ship.”

By hiring college kids who didn’t know airplanes but who had been trained in management and cost analysis, any suggestion from the experienced rank and file was a moot point. Where are those kids now? What legacy did they leave?

There are several obstacles facing Jerry Grinstein’s attempt to keep the airline afloat. Within the company it’s trust.

I don’t fault the pilots’ distrust because of the company’s reputation of give and take back. How can the retirees have any trust after the company has told us and the bankruptcy courts they must renege on the benefits promised?

[Recently] it was announced Delta had improperly removed $30 million from the trust for survivors and the disabled and now the committee representing retirees has had to go to court to have this practiced stopped. That does not inspire trust.

Diana, if you want trust, we need to see it from the top and then it will spread. How about an acknowledgment from Ron Allen that he could have made some better decisions? Next, let’s hear from the bailouts of Leo’s Legions.

I may trust them if they offered an apology for bleeding the company of cash at the expense of the other employees. Yes, now their pensions are insured, but what about the tens of thousands of employees who came before them? Mullins could offer a refund to the company on the premise of not needing more than a couple of mil a year to get by on.

For my part, I wouldn’t ask anything of Mr. Grinstein except a statement reassuring the retirees they will receive the benefits they were promised. And for the active employees, give them the assurance their fate will not be that of so many Enron employees. It’s not going to happen Diana; “This isn’t Kansas.”

I hate to point this out to you, but it’s more than a little naive of you to think the employees and retirees have anything to say about the direction Delta is going, much less, as you suggest, “work as a united team.” Has anyone from the management team called you to come in and help work this out? It’s time to get your head out of the sand.

For 35 years I was a front-line grunt and not a pilot. Don’t think the pilots accepting more concessions now is going to “fix” everything. The concessions should have started at the top 30 years ago.

It’s appears the only person we can trust at this point is Judge Beatty who, so far, has not let Delta run completely roughshod over the employees and retirees. Possibly for some informed reading you may want to look at these Web sites: www.delta1114.org and www.dalrc.org.

Mike Loyd
Fayetteville, Ga.

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