WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008
Delta-Northwest Merger: Snag With Pilots Develops
A deal to merge Delta and Northwest airlines could be near, or not.
The boards of both Delta and Northwest scheduled "emergency meetings" Tuesday,
The New York Times reported yesterday.
But Wednesday morning, the AP said a snag had developed in talks with pilots:
An impasse among pilot negotiators over determining seniority put a $20 billion deal to combine Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. in "serious jeopardy" as the companies' boards prepared to meet Wednesday, two people close to the talks told The Associated Press.
The people said the pilots unions have agreed on a comprehensive joint contract, but they are unable to agree to how seniority for the 12,000 pilots would work under a combined carrier. The people asked not to be named because of the sensitive stage of the talks.
They said late Tuesday that the pilot talks were expected to continue Wednesday, but if no agreement is reached, a deal on a combination of the two airlines would be in real trouble.
Reuters has reported that any merger would face antitrust review, and that the merger talks
put new pressure on Continental Airlines and United Airlines to move forward with their own negotiations.
Frequent Flier MilesTravel Web sites are speculating about what a merger would mean to frequent fliers.
SmarterTravel.com said:
The good news is that no one, no matter which program they currently participate in, will lose any miles. While neither airline has addressed the issue, it is a near certainty that mileage accounts from the two programs will be combined in the event that a merger is consummated. So travelers who currently have miles in both programs will find themselves with a single account with a higher mileage balance.
The good news goes hand in hand with the bad news. Mergers are always about increasing efficiency, and redundant services are reduced or eliminated when two airlines merge. So while the surviving program will have more members, with more miles to be redeemed, the number of seats available for award redemption on the surviving airline will not increase proportionately. So it's likely that cashing in miles for free seats will be more difficult than it is now.
More Delays?The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported recently that a merger could, at least for a time, add to flight delays:
Delta and Northwest had contrasting records last year in the DOT's rankings.
Northwest was ranked 15th out of 20 carriers for on-time flights last year, with 69.6 percent of its flights arriving on time, according to the DOT.
Delta, on the other hand, was fifth, with 76.9 percent of its flights counted as on time, which the agency defines as being less than 15 minutes late.
A merger would make the Delta-Northwest airline the biggest by far in some categories.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution runs the numbers on passengers and other measures:
Delta+Northwest, 129.5 million
1. American, 99.8 million
2. Southwest, 96.3 million
3. Delta, 73.6 million
4. United, 69.3 million
5. Northwest, 55.9 million
Ajc.com has more stats on passenger miles, number of planes, workers and revenue.
Posted at 7:16:52 AM
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