Barefootsies

Delta and Northwest announced yesterday evening that the two companies had officially merged, hours after the U.S. Department of Justice said the deal to create the world's largest airline did not raise anti-trust concerns for the government.

The combined airline will be called Delta and headquartered in Atlanta. It will be the world's largest by several measures, including number of passengers flown, number of departures and number of destinations. Operations of the two carriers are expected to be combined over the next 14 to 16 months.

In a statement, Delta chief executive Richard Anderson said the merger gave the new company "increased flexibility to adapt to the economic challenges ahead." Anderson will retain the chief executive role at the combined company.

The outlook for U.S. airlines appears to be mixed over the next several months. Already, there are signs that the economic slowdown is leading to a pull back from air travel. Airlines, however, are benefiting from a dramatic drop in oil prices from peaks this summer that led to talk of airline bankruptcies and wider industry consolidation.

After a six-month investigation, the Justice Department's anti-trust division removed the last hurdle to the proposed merger yesterday, saying it "is likely to produce substantial and credible efficiencies that will benefit U.S. consumers and is not likely to substantially lessen competition."

Some labor groups have vocally opposed the Delta-Northwest merger from the beginning, fearing that a deal would ultimately cost jobs. And unions have worried that if the merged company failed, worker pensions would be endangered. Analysts said the approval didn't immediately change industry dynamics given that it was long expected.

Joseph Tiberi, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the new airline could prove a behemoth that would be difficult to manage, increasing the chances that the combined carrier would end up in bankruptcy court. The IAM said the two airlines would have more than $28.8 billion in combined debt and $15.6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.

In a statement, the Justice Department cited the heated competition among carriers in the U.S. market. The department said the combination would likely result in cost savings in airport operations, information technology and fleet optimization that will benefit consumers. The government said consumers could benefit from the airlines' combined networks.

Analysts say the two offered geographic compatibility. Delta has operations heavily concentrated in the southeastern United States and in trans-Atlantic markets. Northwest has operations mainly based in the Midwest and has significant Asian operations.

Delta, based in Atlanta, is the third-largest airline in the United States. It carried 73 million passengers last year. Northwest, based in Minneapolis, is the fifth-largest U.S. airline. Last year, Northwest carried 53 million passengers. Delta and Northwest will have more than $31 billion in combined revenues, operate a fleet of nearly 800 aircraft and employ 75,000 people worldwide.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

__________________
Should You Email Your Members?

Link1 | Link2 | Link3

Enough Said.

"Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

baddog

Guess that means I need to find a new way to get to AMS

Sly

I wonder which name they will decide to fly under... I don't know, maybe a little airline consolidation is a good idea? We will see what happens.

__________________
Vacares - Web Hosting, Domains, O365, Security & More - Paxum and BTC Accepted

Windows VPS now available - 1st month free for GFY members - DM for details

Wanted: CCBill pay sites for sale

EXPORT

merge merge merge and then collapse

did delta not almost go bankrupt in 2004?

oh my ....synergies are often a good thing...

this will just cause a clusterfuck

qxm

will have to find new airline..... shit happens .....

__________________

Barefootsies

To my understanding, it will be NWA.

Which is nice since that is my carrier of choice.

__________________
Should You Email Your Members?

Link1 | Link2 | Link3

Enough Said.

"Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

baddog

Doesn't it say "The combined airline will be called Delta and headquartered in Atlanta."

Barefootsies

Business as usual for the short term it would appear.

__________________
Should You Email Your Members?

Link1 | Link2 | Link3

Enough Said.

"Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

Barefootsies

Yep, missed that. Sorry, received 3 or 4 e-mails on this, plus was highlighted story..

Last time I had heard the bullshit on this merger was a few months back. Delta was going bankrupt unless they were bought out or merged. Shortly after they said something about NWA.

I have only paid partial attention to this until today. But BD could be right. If memory servers, you like Delta.

I HATE Delta, so I may have to find another carrier. They are, by far, one of the most expensive carriers for me when I do searches for flights. NWA was always the cheapest.

Guess time will tell.

__________________
Should You Email Your Members?

Link1 | Link2 | Link3

Enough Said.

"Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"