Delta one step closer to Chapter 11

[CK]

www.atw-online.com:
Delta one step closer to Chapter 11
Dateline: Monday October 18, 2004

Battered by yields that continue to fall and fuel prices that continue to climb, Delta Air Lines Friday said in SEC filings that its eroding financial position will produce a third-quarter net loss of $625-$675 million when it is reported, bringing total losses for the first nine months to nearly $3 billion.

Losses in the third quarter of 2003 were $164 million. With an unrestricted cash balance of $1.45 billion at the end of the quarter, a continuation of losses at the present rate would bring cash well below $1 billion by year end, forcing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing before that time, perhaps in the very near future.
In talks seeking $1 billion in cost reductions from pilots through 2006, Delta said the ALPA responses "have been for substantially less" than the requested amount, with the pilots also asking for a stock option program "substantially more generous than the…programs we have proposed."

The company said it needs an additional $800 million in new financing for 2005 and must defer $325 million of debt payments due next year if fuel prices decline to $40 per barrel in 2005 and $35 in 2006. If those decreases do not occur, it will need an additional $600 million in 2005 and $900 million in 2006.--