Northwest Working To Begin Merger With Delta Again
Northwest Airlines is trying their best to get begin the merger talks between Delta Air Lines up and running. Their only concern is the fact that the carriers’ pilots have still not agreed on how they are going to merge all of the important seniority lists.
The latest discussion between Northwest and Delta was tentative, a person with knowledge of the situation said, and it appeared Friday that the ball was in the court of Richard H. Anderson, Delta’s chief executive. Merging without the approval of pilots could anger the airlines’ most powerful work group and make it difficult to run a combined airline efficiently. But the threat might help push the pilots back into negotiations.
Dave Stevens, chairman of the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement late Friday: “In order for any airline merger to be successful, the pilots of both groups must be involved and agree to the terms. We will reserve our judgment and support until the economic and contractual elements of an agreement have been negotiated.”
Delta and Northwest had hoped to obtain a new contract covering the roughly 11,000 pilots and an agreement on merging their two seniority lists before going forward with a merger. In exchange, the managements had offered higher pay and a stake in the combined carriers. The terms called for the combined airline to be known as Delta, to be based in Atlanta and to be run by Mr. Anderson. Douglas M. Steenland, Northwest’s chief executive, had agreed to step aside if the carriers combined. Some airline investors, hoping merged carriers would be more profitable, started urging combinations even before Delta and Northwest emerged from bankruptcy last year.