Triple digit oil prices to trigger merger mania (finally)?
It appears the rumored Delta-Northwest merger has now moved beyond the rumor stage.
I just got an announcement from NWA's Worldperks program announcing the merger, which was apparently approved by the boards of both companies today. It doesn't much sound like a merger of equals, though -- the new airline will keep Delta's name and Delta's headquarters. They say they'll keep all of their hubs operating, but it's hard to believe Memphis will survive as a hub (at the least). And it's not clear to me if the combined airline will maintain Northwest's tight relationship with KLM.
If the deal goes through, Continental can buy back Northwest's "Golden Share" that has held back Continental merger possibilities, and that likely means a Continental-United merger will follow in short order. That may get interesting, since Continental has been resistant to that scenario in the past unless its stronger management team gets to run the combined show.
A Continental-United merger could be really interesting, in that United has some routes that are not served well by Continental or its SkyTeam partners. That's a plus, along with United's experiment in Economy Plus seating. The negative is, United is not nearly as nice to its elite travelers as Continental -- so here's hoping the OnePass program survives as the main frequent traveler program if those two combine.
Hang on Continental/SkyTeam fans. The captain has illuminated the fasten seat belt sign, and there seems to be turbulence ahead.
UPDATE: Here's the Delta/NWA website devoted to the merger. You know the BS has been rolled out quickly when they're extolling "synergies" already.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/08 21:08 | Travel | Technorati
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A CO merger worries me because they do such a good job serving the Houston area already. If they merge with United I'm really concerned because they do a worse job serving pretty much everyone else.
I've flown United a couple of times, and while they have some nice hubs and access to some nice routes, I'm not convinced that CO couldn't take advantage of some of those by taking up slots that are going to be vacated by the airlines that are going away/merging.
Just my opinion.
Posted by Cory @ 08:05 on 04/15/08
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