Airline merger news..

Message

marrymeflyfree · #1 Post by **marrymeflyfree** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:09 pm

Apparently the deal between Delta and Northwest is ready and waiting to be signed off on - they're just waiting for the two pilot unions to come to an agreement on seniority issues first. Management at the two carriers are allowing them this time to work something out..trying to keep the labor issues minimal. It's rather unusual, to say the least, but hopefully it will make the transition go more smoothly.

Some are saying that it could kill the deal if the unions are unable to come to an agreement, but I think both carriers will go ahead with it eventually no matter what. There is a lot of pressure to see this deal go through, and a lot of incentive too. Air France/KLM will invest $1 billion in the new airline (for an equity stake and a seat on the board).

If (when?) it happens, there will probably be an announcement from Continental and United in short order. CO's management doesn't want to merge, but we'll have to do if they do it to stay competitive. CO's CEO told my friend the other day that they will act very quickly once the DL/NW deal is officially on the table. And we won't be without foreign investors either...Lufthansa will likely invest in a combined CO/UA.

tanstaafl2 · #2 Post by **tanstaafl2** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:43 am

Have been keeping an eye on this since you mentioned it earlier.

Still, I went ahead and took the plunge, buying my ticket on Delta to South Africa for later this year with a fairly tight connection on to Zambia on South African Airways. Could have gotten a ticket on South African Air all they way but it was more expensive and required an additional flight.

I hope it doesn't impact my plans but I keep seeing my good friend Murphy around every corner...

kusch · #3 Post by **kusch** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:55 am

I just bought my tickets from Northwest for a trip to SoCal in June. I hope this merger is a good thing for us--ticket price wise. Because we have a wedding to attend in Fargo right after our SoCal trip we are flying out of Fargo. Tickets out of Fargo $380 @, out of Minot they would have been $561@.

Also we now have 3 flights a day (I know that is a lot) and hope that we do not lose one of those.

tanstaafl2 · #4 Post by **tanstaafl2** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:27 am

kusch wrote:I just bought my tickets from Northwest for a trip to SoCal in June. I hope this merger is a good thing for us--ticket price wise. Because we have a wedding to attend in Fargo right after our SoCal trip we are flying out of Fargo. Tickets out of Fargo $380 @, out of Minot they would have been $561@.

Also we now have 3 flights a day (I know that is a lot) and hope that we do not lose one of those.

It may be a good thing that you have bought them now. Reports are that cities with limited service are likely to only get more expensive after mergers as competition is decreased even further. And it doesn't seem to bode well to maintain more frequent service unless it is already a profitable route.

marrymeflyfree · #5 Post by **marrymeflyfree** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:50 am

tanstaafl2 wrote:
Still, I went ahead and took the plunge, buying my ticket on Delta to South Africa for later this year with a fairly tight connection on to Zambia on South African Airways. Could have gotten a ticket on South African Air all they way but it was more expensive and required an additional flight..

WAG here, but I think your flight will be fine. It takes so long to sort everything out that it will be a while before major changes happen - and I would have to assume that the South Africa route will be untouched since there aren't many flights between here and there, and since NW has no Africa service at all. (The merger would still have to be approved by the Feds anyway, which may take a bit of time - but everyone's trying to do this now while there is still a Republican in office.)

tanstaafl2 · #6 Post by **tanstaafl2** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:29 am

Yes, I suspect you are correct on both counts. I still try to do what I can to support Delta despite some of the bonehead things they have done over the past few years because my father is retired from Delta and I hope he continues to get his pension.

Otherwise he may be living with me...