For years US airlines have been threatening to merge, saying that with the industry in such shambles, it's the only way they'll be able to survive. Now it looks like the consolidation has begun.
Delta and Northwest announced last night that they plan to merge, creating the world's largest airline with over 800 planes and $35 billion in annual revenue. The combined carrier will fly under the Delta name, be based at Delta world HQ in Atlanta, and run by the current Delta management. This is cool because Delta's planes are newer, marginally cleaner, and in the process of getting sleek new paint jobs, and each Delta flight begins with a safety briefing from Deltalina the sexy flight attendant.
Things won't change all that much in the short term. It will take months for regulators to approve the deal, and pilots at the two airlines need to hammer out a labor agreement, which could be a nightmare. Plus, it takes a while to merge reservation systems, frequent flier programs, etc., so everything will be status quo for a while.
The Delta/Northwest team isn't wasting any time on the public relations front -- a new website touting the benefits of the merger was up just minutes after the merger was announced.
Photo by Associated Press.* *
