4,000 Delta workers take buyouts

Delta Air Lines Inc., which plans to acquire Northwest Airlines, said 4,000 employees have taken voluntary buyouts, double the number it initially targeted and an increase from the total announced two weeks ago.

The airline said May 30 that 3,000 workers had accepted the severance offers, and since then 1,000 more people have agreed to leave the Atlanta-based company, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said Friday in a telephone interview.

Delta initially targeted 2,000 job reductions under a plan announced in March that also included trimming U.S. capacity as much as 11% and parking up to 90 of its planes and regional jets. There may be additional "incremental cuts," President Ed Bastian told reporters June 3 after the company's annual meeting. Detroit Free press