Who could be bank rolling a possible DL buy of NWA?

[General Lee]

Looks like MAYBE Air France is involved. Hey what is an Australian Kiss anyway? Answer: A French kiss, down under.....


Merger Efforts By Delta Hold A French Twist


By Paulo Prada and Daniel Michaels
Word Count: 927 | Companies Featured in This Article: Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, UAL, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa, Alitalia
As Delta Air Lines Inc. pursues merger talks with Northwest Airlines Corp. and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines to form the world's largest passenger carrier, a potential linchpin is thousands of miles away in Paris: Air France-KLM SA.
The European airline already is an ally of Delta and Northwest in SkyTeam, one of the three major international airline groupings. Air France-KLM also could provide strategic or financial backing in a Delta bid for Northwest, the airline most likely to emerge as Delta's preferred partner, according to people familiar with the negotiations.




Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[hateairlines]

IT's easy who's paying for this "merger", its the employee's pensions and paycuts. It must give you all a warm fuzzy feeling inside!

 

[AA717driver]

I guess cabotage is bad unless it's your airline that's benefitting? TC

 

[9rj9]

The real answer is nobody is paying anything, its a stock swap, NW stock for x amount of DAL stock.

Its all smoke and mirrors, two broken business plans doesn't equal one profitable airline.

As far as the hedge funds, they will get paid as they bought the stock as it lost 40% of its value. They will sell out and quickly go to their next meal.

Keep Delta my Delta, at least until we (the heroic management) get paid !!!

 

[General Lee]

Air France-KLM could back Delta's merger bid: report

Thu Jan 17, 2008NEW YORK (Reuters) - Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) could provide strategic or financial help in Delta Air Line Inc's (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) pursuit of a merger with another airline, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

A U.S. congressman on Wednesday said Delta has begun merger talks with Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and media reports have said it was also talking to United Airlines parent UAL Corp
(UAUA.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
The Journal report, quoting people familiar with negotiations, said Northwest was more likely to emerge as Delta's "preferred partner" and that Air France-KLM may back up that bid.
Air France-KLM could provide cash, sweetening a deal and making a rival bid more difficult, while seeking a stake in the combined carrier in return, the report said.
Air France-KLM already cooperates with Delta and Northwest as part of the SkyTeam global alliance. Analysts have also said a Delta-Northwest tie-up was more likely, some noting Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson's past leadership at Northwest.
Air France declined to comment on the report. Delta was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, Tim Hepher in Paris)


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

I guess cabotage is bad unless it's your airline that's benefitting? TC

So you are guessing that would happen, right? You must be, I haven't seen an article saying that yet. But, you think it will....TC

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[AA717driver]

So you are guessing that would happen, right? You must be, I haven't seen an article saying that yet. But, you think it will....TC

Bye Bye--General Lee

Yes. If it has to be by executive order as Bush is heading toward his final flight on AF1, I believe it will happen.

Delta wouldn't be the first or the last to have a claim staked by a foreign airline. JB, VA, NW... I fully expect BA to take a majority stake in AA, too...TC

 

[flaps30]

Air France-KLM could provide cash, sweetening a deal and making a rival bid more difficult, while seeking a stake in the combined carrier in return

Gen you might be onto something, open skies !!!
now Air France will be flying direct to Atlanta, Orlando, and Cincinnati ///no delta pilot needed.

I think you guys/gals are falling for it, hook line and sinker.

 

[bravodude]

Air France-KLM could provide cash, sweetening a deal and making a rival bid more difficult, while seeking a stake in the combined carrier in return

Gen you might be onto something, open skies !!!
now Air France will be flying direct to Atlanta, Orlando, and Cincinnati ///no delta pilot needed.

I think you guys/gals are falling for it, hook line and sinker.

Dont forget who you are talking about here. These are the same guys that sold the retired pilots down the river. They will always take a quarter now instead of a dollar tomorow.

 

[General Lee]

Air France-KLM could provide cash, sweetening a deal and making a rival bid more difficult, while seeking a stake in the combined carrier in return

Gen you might be onto something, open skies !!!
now Air France will be flying direct to Atlanta, Orlando, and Cincinnati ///no delta pilot needed.

I think you guys/gals are falling for it, hook line and sinker.

Yeah, Air France already flies to ATL, on an A340. We fly a 764 and a 763ER for the other two flights. We haven't flown INTL flights from MCO in a decade, and AF doesn't fly there now. CVG has seasonal AF service during the Summer on an A330, along with our daily 777 to CDG. Any other cities you want to be wrong about?

How's Lowes doing by the way?


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[G4G5]

The pockets aren't as deep as you think. AF/KLM has $9 billion available to them in free cash. Of which they are currently in negotiations to PURCHASE in CASH, 49.9% of Alitalia from the Italian government. According to the WSJ, the costs of fully incorporating Alitalia into the mix will be tremendous, cut backs, strikes, regulatory concerns, fleet types, up grades, yada yada.

So while you would like to think that they are their for you at big D, the reality is, that if you are counting on the French for help, you need a history lesson

 

[andyd]

if you are counting on the French for help, you need a history lesson

I think YOU need a history lesson. If it weren't for the French loaning us the money (negotiated by Ben Franklin) the USA would not exist. I see nothing wrong with Dal/NWA teaming up with AF/KLM to stave off BA/AA. The global reality is right here and now and those who don't choose dance partners now will end up stag when the music stops.

 

[G4G5]

I think YOU need a history lesson. If it weren't for the French loaning us the money (negotiated by Ben Franklin) the USA would not exist. I see nothing wrong with Dal/NWA teaming up with AF/KLM to stave off BA/AA. The global reality is right here and now and those who don't choose dance partners now will end up stag when the music stops.

Ok, your right, what was I thinking they have always been their for us.

Time to change the water in the bong Cheech, FYI, they only loaned BF the money to jam it up the Kings as. Which is what they will do to DAL if you let them have 25% of the voting shares, when you take their money.

 

[andyd]

Time to change the water in the bong Cheech, FYI, they only loaned BF the money to jam it up the Kings as.

LOL, truly made me laugh. FI is purely entertainment and has yet some through again! Guess I also failed to mention that due to the loan the frogs gave us it resulted in the French economy tanking and the French Revolution a couple years later. Sh!t, who knows what's going to happen with all of this? I just think we're better off being pro-active and trying to get the strongest alliance put together ahead of the pack rather than waiting to see what pieces are left over. It's really all pointless anyways, 100 years from now it'll be UAV's and transporter rooms....Airline pilots will be reduced to the scrapheap of history by then.....I just need 20 more years.......

 

[G4G5]

Yes, it makes me laugh too. Only here can someone think that loaning money to Ben Franklin is somehow relevant to a Delta/ Air France thread.

Just so we are straight, you think that letting the French purchase a large percentage of Delta is a good thing?

Because it's not. They are not doing it to help DAL. If you read the WSJ, they were pretty clear that, it not going to be a loan because that does nothing to protect AF/KLM's interest. They want a seats on the BOD (25%).

Why? Because they are afraid that DAL will merge with UAL instead of NWA and leave the Skyteam for the Star Alliance. It's not a loan, AF realizes that with the weak dollar DAL can get a loan just as eaisly from Lufthansa as they can Air France. So Air France needs seats on the BOD.

That would leave the Skyteam with only NWA, ( who if merged with or taken over by AA would leave them with just CAL).

So the French want to get their feet in the door and more importantly on the DAL BOD.

But, I guess you have no problem with losing flying jobs to Air France or KLM. Or do you some how think that this will create more pilots seats at DAL. If that's the case please tell us how?