They've made a public announcement that the merger is happening.

A few details at nwa.com.

So far I've received notification via e-mail from NWA, but not Delta (I have ff accounts with both). The NWA e-mail said they would both keep their hubs and would operate independently for the next 6-8 months.

So, do you think they will marry the miles together if you have FF accounts for both?

I received an email from NWA at 8:52pm tonight. Goodby Northwest Airlines.

There is no question that one will be able to merge miles. It happened with US/HP, it happened with AC/CP and so on. No reason why not this time.

From my NWA e-mail:

Our combined airline will offer unprecedented access to the world, enabling you to fly to more destinations, have more flight choices and more ways than ever to earn and redeem your WorldPerks miles.

You can be assured that your WorldPerks miles and Elite program status will be unaffected by this merger. In addition, you can continue to earn miles through use of partners like WorldPerks Visa®. And once the new Delta Air Lines emerges you can look forward to being a part of the world’s largest frequent flyer program with expanded benefits.

Still no e-mail from Delta.

Our local news reported on this story, and said there might soon be a merger between Continental and United. Airlines want to do this while Bush is still in office, evidently.

Let's keep our eye on this story, gang....it could be a hectic summer up there....

Air France-KLM has been hoping that this would happen since Delta has long been a partner of Air France and Northwest has long been a partner of KLM.