Delta expects to cut 2,000 through buyouts

Delta Air Lines expects to cut about 2,000 employees through buyouts, chief executive Richard Anderson said during a briefing Thursday in Tokyo.

Anderson said he expects the cuts to be around that number because Atlanta-based Delta is reducing flight capacity by 6 to 8 percent this year through grounding planes and other moves, according to a Bloomberg News video. “The worldwide economic picture is difficult and will remain difficult for the remainder of 2009,” Anderson said during the briefing.

Delta, which merged with Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines last fall, has about 75,000 employees. The cuts would amount to about 2.7 percent of employees.

Anderson, President Ed Bastian and Executive Vice President of Network Planning Glen Hauenstein are spending a week in Asia meeting with employees and others during their first visit to the Tokyo hub since the merger closed. Delta acquired the Tokyo hub through its merger with Northwest.

The window for employees to sign up for the voluntary severance and early-out programs opened Thursday and closes at the end of this month. The voluntary severance program is for employees with 10 or more years of service and whose age and years of service add up to at least 55. The early-out program is for other qualified ground employees and flight attendants with five years of service or more as of Dec. 31 this year, and salaried employees hired before Jan. 1 this year. Pilots and certain salaried employees are not eligible.

Last year, Delta cut more than 4,000 employees through voluntary leave and early retirement programs to generate about $200 million in annual savings, after targeting a cut of about 2,000.