Feb. 29--Delta Air Lines said it will shutter its warehouse at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on May 16 and move up to 66 workers to Atlanta.
Delta distributed a memo Wednesday to local Delta employees who stock parts for Delta aircraft, informing them that there will be positions available to all employees interested in relocating to Atlanta. Employees were also told they could apply for open positions in other departments at MSP or within Delta.
Delta said the closure is part of its plans to consolidate its warehouse operations into one facility at the Technical Operations Center in Atlanta. There are about 150 stock clerks, with 66 jobs impacted by the consolidation.
Moving into a single warehouse will "improve efficiency and productivity," as well as help strengthen support of Delta's maintenance operations and business, said Theresa Keaveny, managing director of materials and planning, in a memo to workers.
Delta said it plans to maintain its maintenance services and hangar front desk operation at MSP.
The Atlanta-based airline told workers in January it was thinking about closing the warehouse at MSP.
State officials at the time said they were troubled by the development, saying Delta would be breaking its commitment to keeping jobs in the state if it moved the jobs. In the fall, the airline paid off a loan to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, freeing it from its obligations to have at least 10,000 employees in the state. At the time, Delta said it didn't plan to move more workers to its Atlanta hub.
Wendy Lee --612-673-1712
Copyright 2012 - Star Tribune, Minneapolis
