DL and NW finally announced it
 

biz.yahoo.com/pz/080414/140089.html

Combined airline will be called Delta, HQed in Atlanta.

No immediate plan to shut down hubs.

So when do we expect CO and UA to announce?
Should I use up or hang on to my OnePass miles?

Yep, just got my email from NW at 8:55. Craziness. I can't believe the gov't is allowing it.

The government hasn't approved it - yet. But I'm guessing they will.

so, it looks like the pilots agreed?

Forget UA and CO for the moment. I do feel a little sad to see the Northwest name disappearing. I rode NW from the US to Hong Kong as a baby. Pan Am had gone, TWA had gone, and now Northwest. Oh well...

northwest orient, aaaaiiiirliiiines - the fanjet airline.

Remember?

I got an e-mail from NWA, but Delta has yet to notify me.

Curious to know how/why they agreed on keeping Delta and dropping Northwest.

I just received the email announcement from Northwest at 8:52pm. Nothing stays the same does it. So goodbye Northwest Airlines.

Why? DL is the larger airline with more flights, more passengers, higher market capitalization. DL's managements will be running the combined airline.

Basically, NW's management had failed to turn around the airline following the previous bankruptcy, and is just selling its business to DL. That's why DL's name will remain.

---

Now, the CO/UA situation is more interesting. UA is the larger airline, higher market capitalization, better known brand in many parts of the world, and so on. But it's them who's selling the business. If they merge, CO's management will be running the combined airline. Unknown right now is which name they'll retain, and whether they'll move the management up from Houston to Chicago. I think HQ will remain in Houston, though I'm not sure which name they'll keep.

We have NWA FF miles. WE've used their alliance with CO, and CO's ease of finding FF seats, to book Euro award flights on CO. It has not been easy to find FF award seats on either Delta or NWA. My hope is CO stays independent and part of their alliance through our next trip in 2009. Any chance of that happening??

My two cents:

1) i think there is no chance that CO stays in Skyteam. They don't seem to want to be there, anyway. If you have DL or NW miles and really want to burn them on CO, then I would start booking now. Same advice if you have CO miles and want to book on DL or NW.

2) I won't miss the "Northwest" name, but I do smile everytime I see "NWA" on the side of a plane...

3) A UA/CO merger will be called United. Continental is just not a big enough brand, IMHO.

4) I think the government gives the go-ahead. The industry is in such a mess, that it is hard to make the argument that there isn't enough competition. Even if NW/DL and UA/CO goes through, there will still be at least 4 major airlines in the US. That is plenty enough to ensure competition, if you ask me.

I would guess that NWA World Perks miles will roll over to Delta SkyMiles?

Yes, miles will roll over. What shape the new mileage programs take is up for debate. I think they will be less generous, particularly for discounted coach travel, but I'm not going to bet on it. And, I think most of those changes will come regardless of any mergers.

< so it looks like the pilots agreed? >

DL - yes
NW - no

Could be interesting. I doubt if it's going to be as bad as America West/US (where pilot issues are still in litigation and the pilots are operating as 2 separate entities), but hard to tell. NW pilots will be under a lot of pressure, but their statements this morning indicate they're going to oppose it.

Was North Central, was Republic, was Northwest.

I was looking at flying Northwest in the near future, but the possibility of a pilots' action makes that less likely.

Keith

Is this handwriting on the wall?
http://www.co-industryconsolidation.com/

I wish CO will remain independent, but switch to Star Alliance. I don't see why they have to buy UA.

CO has to merge with someone, or risk becoming the SAS of the US. Decent airline, but without enough muscle to really compete with the big carriers. Indeed, if I were CO, I would be VERY concerned about what kind of competition the new DL (along with AF and KLM) will be bringing to their European operations.

Apparently, NW has already talked about restarting JFK-NRT service, perhaps indicating another front where CO will be vulnerable.

I would be more optimistic about CO's chances of weathering the storm, if their long-haul fleet wasn't so small, by comparison, to everyone else. I think that puts them behind the 8-ball to do something.