Good News....Delta Might Go It Alone.....

[120% Torque]

Or maybe just more posturing. It would be great if the merger was abandoned followed by an order for more airplanes flown by Delta Pilots

Delta Says Merger Principles
With Northwest Haven't Been Met
By PAULO PRADA
February 26, 2008 4:44 p.m.
In a sign of growing trouble for a proposed merger deal with Northwest Airlines Corp., top executives of Delta Air Lines Inc. Tuesday afternoon issued an internal memo saying that no "potential transaction meets all our principles."

Summarizing the airline's priorities in any merger, including seniority protection for all its employees and keeping the airline headquartered in Atlanta, the memo said the airline will continue to focus on its "stand-alone plan" until all "these conditions are met."

Signed by Richard Anderson, Delta's chief executive, and Ed Bastian, the airline's president and chief financial officer, the memo follows a recent impasse in discussions between Delta pilots and their counterparts at Northwest. Despite progress in merger talks among the two airlines' executives and financial advisers, people familiar with the situation say leaders of the pilots groups have been unable to find common ground on an agreement that would establish a common seniority list for the pilots of a combined airline.

Without that agreement, those people said, the airlines are reluctant to merge because executives are wary of protracted labor disputes and contract negotiations that have troubled mergers in the airline industry in the past.

Write to Paulo Prada at [email protected]

 

[Tanker Clown]

I bet the NWA guys are refusing to let the General/737 Pylt throw gear for them.

 

[400ADude]

At 100 dollar a barrell oil, Delta might be able to stand alone for a year but then they will hit the ground in BK court again. Sad.

 

[Tanker Clown]

At 100 dollar a barrell oil, Delta might be able to stand alone for a year but then they will hit the ground in BK court again. Sad.

I don't think this trip will be quite as good as the last one.

 

[NYRANGERS]

At 100 dollar a barrell oil, Delta might be able to stand alone for a year but then they will hit the ground in BK court again. Sad.

Yea, you're right. As soon as DAL and NWA merge, it will drive the price of oil back to $50 a barrell.....

If you say oil is the big problem, how will mergers lower the price?

 

[120% Torque]

TC, why so vindictive all the time? Where does this hate/jealousy stem from?

 

[Tanker Clown]

Just callin a spade a spade.

 

[clippyrip]

TC, why so vindictive all the time? Where does this hate/jealousy stem from?

Exactly! I blocked him a while back and it makes it a lot nicer round here. I'm sure TC will reply but I'll never see it.

 

[120% Torque]

Just callin a spade a spade.

If its a spade, its an anger based spade since most of your comments are targeted towards Delta. I sense alot of hurt and sadness......you need to remove the bleeding heart from your sleeve and move on. Maybe get a new hobby other than trying to predict gloom and doom for Delta pilots because you never made it where you wanted to go. Oh yeah I forgot, you are a multi millionair traveling all over the world with your military unit....ahhhh the good life.

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

Yea, you're right. As soon as DAL and NWA merge, it will drive the price of oil back to $50 a barrell.....

If you say oil is the big problem, how will mergers lower the price?

The merger will allow for cost savings in almost every part of the business. That will not only allow for a bigger part of the budget to be spent on oil but it will also allow for the combined company to use less oil as a whole. Also the buying power of the combined company will allow them to purchase oil at a cheaper price (the walmart effect if you will).

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

Delta Execs Say No Combination Deal Yet

Delta Execs Say No Combination Deal Yet
Delta Executives Say in Memo That There's No Combination Deal Yet That Meets All Their Goals

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc.'s top two executives told employees Tuesday that the nation's No. 3 carrier has not yet arrived at a potential combination transaction that meets all of its principles.
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The memo to employees from Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian was issued as talks between the Atlanta-based company and Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp. have been hampered by an inability by their pilots unions to reach a deal on integrating seniority lists.

The executives said the company's criteria for any potential deal include protecting the seniority of Delta employees and creating greater job security.

Other conditions include that the combined airline be called Delta and be headquartered in Atlanta. Officials familiar with the talks have said those criteria have already been met, as have most other issues, except for pilot integration.

"Rest assured that we will not complete a transaction unless all of these conditions are met," the Delta executives said in the memo. "We have a strong stand-alone plan. We will maintain our attention on executing that plan while we continue to look at strategic alternatives."

Not too long ago, Delta and Northwest seemed all but certain to announce a combination soon.

That still could happen, but the pilot impasse has jeopardized a deal. Neither side has suggested they are ready to walk away, but there has been a public and private silence in recent days from many people familiar with the deal.

Industry observers say that if a Delta-Northwest combination falls through, the two airlines could stay independent, seek a quick deal with another carrier or wait until next year to try the consolidation game again.

 

[400ADude]

Yea, you're right. As soon as DAL and NWA merge, it will drive the price of oil back to $50 a barrell.....

If you say oil is the big problem, how will mergers lower the price?

It will reduce capacity and bring ticket prices back up, plain and simple. Yeah some jobs are going to be lost but that is what happens. No offense but if I were at Delta or Northwest I would get this thing done.

 

[michael707767]

It will reduce capacity and bring ticket prices back up, plain and simple. Yeah some jobs are going to be lost but that is what happens. No offense but if I were at Delta or Northwest I would get this thing done.

I disagree with you. First, I don't believe it will reduce capacity by a significant amount. Second, it will only reduce Delta/NWA capacity. SWA, Airtran, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, etc, will add back any capacity removed by DL/NW........and more. I believe within a couple of years, DL/NW would actually be in a weaker position, certainly domestically, than they were before. The only way to prevent this would be to use the merger as a stepping stone to growth and attack the LCCs. But that's not what will happen, so I believe both pilot groups will be better off absent this merger.

 

[clippyrip]

I disagree with you. First, I don't believe it will reduce capacity by a significant amount. Second, it will only reduce Delta/NWA capacity. SWA, Airtran, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, etc, will add back any capacity removed by DL/NW........and more. I believe within a couple of years, DL/NW would actually be in a weaker position, certainly domestically, than they were before. The only way to prevent this would be to use the merger as a stepping stone to growth and attack the LCCs. But that's not what will happen, so I believe both pilot groups will be better off absent this merger.

Do you think it would be a bad thing to refocus the business to a more International mindframe and let the the SWA, Airtran, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, etc, fight over the $69 one way? Let them kill a few of each other off and then we come in and tackle the leftovers. Just a thought....I don't really know what will keep us alive but at a glance a merger looks good.

 

[Tanker Clown]

Do you think it would be a bad thing to refocus the business to a more International mindframe and let the the SWA, Airtran, Jetblue, Frontier, Spirit, etc, fight over the $69 one way? Let them kill a few of each other off and then we come in and tackle the leftovers. Just a thought....I don't really know what will keep us alive but at a glance a merger looks good.

Looks to me like SWA and those "leftover $69 one ways" are the only people making money consistantly...or over the last quarter for that matter. Maybe Delta should try to get SWA to buy it...or change it's business model to memick SWA's.