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Delta loses $1.14B in six weeks

The airline's net loss in its first six weeks of bankruptcy more than triples that of Northwest Airlines, which filed the same day.

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier, said it lost a whopping $1.14-billion in the first six weeks of its bankruptcy case.

The Atlanta-based airline revealed the loss that amounted to $6.04 a share for the Sept. 15 to Oct. 31 period in a filing Wednesday night in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Delta filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 14.

Delta already had reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.13-billion for the three months ended Sept. 30. It's not clear from Wednesday's filing how much of the new loss occurred during October and how much came during the last half of September. A spokeswoman said Thursday that the company would not be able to break it down.

Excluding reorganization items, Delta said its loss for the first six weeks of its bankruptcy case was $472-million.

The airline also said in its filing that it spent $2.61-billion in the first six weeks of its bankruptcy case, much of it on fuel, salaries and interest expenses. It listed $17-million for "professional fees" associated with its bankruptcy case during the period and included that amount in the reorganization items it said contributed to its loss in the period.

But in a footnote later in the filing, Delta said no payments for fees to 12 "retained professionals" will be made until after Monday. A spokesman could not immediately say whether the two references were separate categories of fees or one in the same. The company reported revenue of $1.95-billion for the six-week period.

Delta's net loss for the first six weeks of its bankruptcy case was more than triple the $346-million that Northwest Airlines Corp. said it lost during the same period. Northwest, based in Eagan, Minn., also filed for bankruptcy in New York on Sept. 14.

Meanwhile, Delta's effort to reject its pilot contract so it can impose $325-million in concessions on its 6,000 pilots continued in bankruptcy court Wednesday.

On the fifth day of hearings, Judge Prudence Carter Beatty hinted at how she may arrive at a decision on this hotly contested aspect of the bankruptcy case.

Amid testimony Wednesday by a Wall Street financier who advocated a plan seeking wage cuts from pilots, Beatty said that given the complexities of the carrier's business, she wanted to examine the facts in context.

"I really think the facts can be misrepresented unless you know more about the context," Beatty told the court. "I actually think in a case like this, the facts are much more important than the law."

Delta is looking for $3-billion in annual cost savings overall.

Delta wants $325-million in concessions from the pilots, saying it needs to cut labor costs to make itself competitive with other carriers who operate at a lower cost.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the union representing the pilots, has offered $90.7-million in average annual concessions over four years and has threatened a strike if the court grants Delta's request. Delta says such a walkout would violate the Railway Labor Act.

If the court approves Delta's proposed cuts, they would be on top of $1-billion in annual concessions the pilots agreed to in a five-year deal reached in 2004. That deal included a 32.5 percent pay cut and has been held up by the union as a sign of its willingness to negotiate.

The hearings likely will go on into next week.

[Last modified December 2, 2005, 01:13:14]