Delta releases new details on up to 6,900 job cuts

<p>Delta Air Lines Inc. on Friday released new details on the up to 6,900 jobs it plans to cut starting Jan. 1.</p><p>The airline said it will cut between 1,500 to 1,800 administrative employees; 1,600 to 2,000 technical operations employees and 2,900 to 3,100 customer service employees, said spokesman Anthony Black.</p><p>The cuts will begin Jan. 1 and will be carried out over an 18-month period. Employees in Dallas and Atlanta will be the most affected by the cuts, Black said.</p><p>The details were announced internally to employees earlier this week. The airline is asking employees to voluntarily retire or accept severance packages. Other employees may have to be furloughed, Black said.</p><p>In September, company CEO Gerald Grinstein announced a plan that included cuts of up to 7,000 jobs in an attempt to turn around the airline's financial troubles.</p><p>He also said then that the airline would get rid of its Dallas hub because of hard hits from high fuel costs and competition by low-fare rivals.</p><p>Delta has lost more than $6 billion since early 2001, during which time it has eliminated 16,000 jobs and cut the pay of other employees, including its executives.</p><p>The airline union's 7,000 pilots currently are voting whether to accept a proposed agreement, reached by union leaders last week, that will cut their salaries by a third in a $1 billion wage concession effort to keep Delta out of bankruptcy. The voting will end at noon Thursday.</p><p>Delta also has secured $500 million in financing from Commercial Finance, another $600 million in financing from a unit of American Express Co. and an agreement to defer $135 million of its debt for two years. However, those deals are conditioned on Delta achieving all of its cost-cutting targets, including the pilots' wage concessions.</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2865b8c)</p>

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