Delta, Northwest merger pact imminent - reports

[Eagle757shark]

Delta, Northwest merger pact imminent - reports

Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:48pm EDT
PHILADELPHIA, April 13 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) aim to finalize a merger agreement in the next two days, media reports said on Sunday.
The Financial Times said a deal could be announced as early as Monday, while The Wall Street Journal said the agreement could be unveiled on Tuesday.
The airlines, which have seen deal talks collapse before, could push ahead with the agreement without the support of Delta's 6,000 pilots, according to the story in the Wall Street Journal's electronic edition.
The merger would create the world's largest airline, but the talks previously fizzled out in March when the pilots' unions on both sides failed to agree on how seniority would apply for their roughly 12,000 members in a combined carrier.
Delta and Northwest could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Jessica Hall, editing by Leslie Gevirtz) (For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to here)

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

AP also had this story.

cliff
YIP

 

[fencitup]

It's gonna happen... The higher ups might surprise us and there will be a LOT of good that comes out of this.
If you think positive... positive things will happen

 

[CitationLover]

If you think positive... positive things will happen

i knew Tony Robbins posted on flightinfo.

 

[~~~^~~~]

No, that's Oprah's Secret.

My wife bought that book

 

[ACL65PILOT]

lucky you

 

[scarlet]

GoodBye MEM... Goodbye CVG....

goodbye alot of employees....

 

[Superpilot92]

GoodBye MEM... Goodbye CVG....

goodbye alot of employees....

I think they are going to be around. A big airline needs smaller hubs to filter some of the feed through. We shall see.

 

[PA44Jockey]

GoodBye MEM... Goodbye CVG....

Let's hope you're wrong...

 

[scarlet]

MSP,DTW,CVG you think will have three bases within 30-45 mins away....

MEM and ATL to close

It cost so much money to have so many bases...look at CAL,Airtran...But DL has not always made the best business deals!! ???

 

[BUDDHA145]

I think good things will come out of this...like comair will still be around, compas pilots will go to BIGER IRON in the new merger, their planes will go to republic and all American Airlines pilots will still hate the world but whoo cares about does BIG CRYING BABIES...ALSO LETS dont forget this have to be approve by our corrupt goverment!!! Oh yes, some how Dick FKNG Channey will get richer out of thisss.

just my thoght...

 

[sitnresrv]

Buddha;

Are you purposely trying to sound ignorant, or do you really have a grade school IQ to spell like that?

 

[FlyWolf]

Delta, Northwest May Unveil Merger After Board Meets (Update1)


By Mary Jane Credeur

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- [URL="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DALRQ%3AUS"]Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. may announce a merger to create the world's largest carrier as early as April 15, following a meeting of Northwest's board tomorrow, people familiar with the talks said.

Delta Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson met in Minneapolis today with Northwest CEO Doug Steenland to discuss the merger plans, said two of the people, who didn't want to be identified because the discussions are private.

Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier by traffic, is betting that a combination with No. 5 Northwest will boost revenue and lower costs after jet-fuel prices surged 77 percent in the past year. The merged company would surpass AMR Corp.'s American Airlines as the world's biggest carrier.

``They're going to be, by far, the largest, most dominant force in the industry,'' Michael Derchin, an analyst with FTN Midwest Research Securities Corp. in New York, said in an interview last week. ``The cost cutting has to happen with oil at $110 per barrel, and on the margin this helps you do it a little better.''

Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton, Northwest spokeswoman Tammy Lee and Northwest pilots spokesman Matt Coons declined to comment. Delta pilots spokeswoman Kelly Regus didn't return messages seeking comment.

Failed Plans
The airlines are forging ahead after earlier plans to get their pilots to draw up a combined seniority list on their own ahead of the merger failed.
Delta instead has focused on reaching an agreement with its 7,000 pilots. The airline and its pilot leaders came to a preliminary agreement on most issues last week and are ironing out differences on the size of pay increases, two people said. Northwest's 5,000 pilots will be asked to join under a single contract later.

Delta will keep its name and Atlanta headquarters, and Anderson will run the combined carrier, people familiar with the matter have said previously.

The merged airline would benefit from Delta's trans- Atlantic routes to Europe and its Latin American network, plus Eagan, Minnesota-based Northwest's Pacific routes, including access to Tokyo's Narita Airport, where Northwest is the second- largest airline.

The merger was threatened last month after pilot leaders at Delta and Northwest failed to agree on how to combine their seniority lists. The two sides differed over how younger pilots at Delta would move up the list as older Northwest pilots retired.

Seniority is crucial because it determines pay, type of aircraft and routes flown.

Alternate Plan
Delta management now plans to ask the Northwest pilots to join under a single contract, the people said. Negotiations for a combined seniority list may take months to complete, they said.
All of the pilots belong to the Air Line Pilots Association. It's the only major unionized group at Delta.

Delta's pilot leaders met in a special session in Atlanta on April 11, according to a memo union leaders sent to members. Northwest pilot leaders are meeting today near Minneapolis, according to a memo on the union's Web site.

The merger accord may increase the pressure on other U.S. airlines to pursue their own tie-ups. Continental Airlines Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, has held talks with UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and American, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Feb. 15.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at [email protected].
Last Updated: April 13, 2008 21:39 EDT

 

[twott driver]

"Delta may be willing to give incentives to Delta pilots to make changes to their contract, another person familiar with the talks said. The changes being sought are related to the scope section in the Delta pilot contract, which in part spells out what planes pilots fly and what routes they fly, people familiar with the talks said."

The well paying jobs get fewer and farther between

 

[Flyer1015]

GoodBye MEM... Goodbye CVG....

Let's hope you're wrong...

He's got a point. No one has really brought this up. But of DTW/MEM/MSP and ATL/CVG/SLC, SOME base(s) must close. Economies of scale. Synergies. [Insert whatever management/business term here].

You cannot merge Delta and NWA fully, and keep all 6 of those bases open.