Search
Advertisement
  • Feb 28, 2008 6:48 pm US/Central
  • Digg | Facebook | E-mail | Print

Sources: NWA-Delta Merger Talks Hit A Snag

(WCCO) Merger talks between Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have hit a snag. According to a source close to the negotiations, the deal hasn't been called off but there are signs of trouble.

For the past several days the airlines have been sending out conflicting reports about the talks.

There are some experts in the airline industry who believe the report of calling off talks is just a strategy to get the pilots to reach an agreement.

Sources said the carriers have walked away from the negotiations because the two pilots unions could not reach an agreement on integrating their seniority lists. They haven't negotiated with each other since last Friday.

Pilots with more seniority bid first for desirable planes and routes. Lower-ranked pilots are the first to be laid off.

On Tuesday, a Delta letter to employees said a merger can't happen yet until, "the seniority of our people is protected." The memo was signed by Delta CEO Richard Anderson.

That same day the CEO of Northwest Airlines told workers that consolidation is inevitable.

On Thursday, a newspaper in Utah reported that a Delta official in Washington D.C. is circulating a memo. The memo from Sametta Barnett, a government affairs official for Delta Air Lines stated that "…for the time being, Delta will remain a stand-alone company."

One travel expert predicted that eventually the two carriers will merge.

"Not now but it will happen. Those are the exact words that I was told yesterday, not now but possibly in the future. Maybe three months, maybe six months, maybe eight months, maybe sooner," said travel expert Terry Trippler.

That prediction is being reiterated by a source to CBS News. A person close to the talks is telling the network that both sides have walked away from negotiations for now but that a merger hasn't been ruled out just yet.

The Associated Press reported that a person with knowledge of the situation said that Northwest Airlines pilots are continuing to look for a solution to the stalled talks with Delta pilots, and they're not under a deadline to make a deal.

Delta would neither confirm nor deny the reports. Northwest Airlines has not returned calls.

 

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

From Our Partners

Video

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Travel

Top News Stories

Advertisement

© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.