One key player went largely unnoticed during the food fight between Delta Air Lines and its biggest caterer.
You might remember that Gate Gourmet Inc. stopped supplying Delta planes with food and drinks Sept. 23 because of an unspecified contract dispute. Delta won a court order the following day that temporarily prohibited Gate Gourmet from cutting off deliveries.
Financially ailing Delta has repeatedly warned of a possible bankruptcy filing, and observers widely assumed Gate Gourmet was trying to keep the airline from running up big unpaid bills just in case.
The irony here is that Gate Gourmet's chief executive knows a little about the federal bankruptcy code. That would be David Siegel, who was boss at US Airways when the carrier filed its first bankruptcy two years ago.
Before his departure from US Airways, Siegel wasn't shy about taking pot shots at Delta and then-chief executive Leo Mullin. He called Mullin "Dr. Evil" and labeled a code-sharing deal between Delta and two other carriers "the axis of evil."
Last week, Siegel told the Wall Street Journal that he has the highest regard for Delta and current head honcho Gerald Grinstein. He wasn't even upset over last month's dispute.
"Delta is trying to hold onto cash," Siegel told the Journal. "I'm very sympathetic."
