The Minutiae of an Airline Merger
May 18, 2011, 1:56 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,559
The Minutiae of an Airline Merger
Article in the NY Times about the DL/NW merger:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/19air.html
Some minutiae in there which only FTers or beancounters could care about:
"before the merger, Delta used to cut its limes in 10 slices while Northwest cut them 16 ways. The lime debate was even mentioned at a meeting attended by Mr. Anderson, the chief executive, who was told it saved Northwest about $500,000 a year. In the end, Delta stuck with its 10 slices. But the airline also realized that it had been loading more limes on its flights than it needed. So it is now carrying fewer limes. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/19air.html
Some minutiae in there which only FTers or beancounters could care about:
"before the merger, Delta used to cut its limes in 10 slices while Northwest cut them 16 ways. The lime debate was even mentioned at a meeting attended by Mr. Anderson, the chief executive, who was told it saved Northwest about $500,000 a year. In the end, Delta stuck with its 10 slices. But the airline also realized that it had been loading more limes on its flights than it needed. So it is now carrying fewer limes. "
May 18, 2011, 2:28 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PHL
Programs: Delta PM, HHonors Silver, AVIS First
Posts: 275
NYT: The Minutiae of an Airline Merger
Interesting article about the DL/NW merger in the New York Times...
ATLANTA — How many chimes should pilots ring to signal the plane is about to land — two or four? Should flight attendants first pour drinks into a cup or just hand over the can?
Airline mergers are complex and tough to pull off — witness the troubled marriage of People Express and Continental Airlines in the 1980s or the continuing problems in integrating America West and US Airways six years after their merger. So when Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest three years ago, executives knew they would have to resolve major labor, technology and financial issues.
What they had not fully anticipated were the thousands of tiny details that go mostly unnoticed by passengers but can make the difference between a successful merger and a failed one.
All airlines have their own way of doing things, developed over time and through labor negotiations. All have specific working rules, flying procedures, maintenance schedules and computer programs. And all have their own cultures. Delta always thought of itself as the gracious host. Hence its flight attendants poured the requested drinks. Northwest was the practical carrier; its attendants just handed over the can.
Go to linky for the rest... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/bu...l?ref=business
Airline mergers are complex and tough to pull off — witness the troubled marriage of People Express and Continental Airlines in the 1980s or the continuing problems in integrating America West and US Airways six years after their merger. So when Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest three years ago, executives knew they would have to resolve major labor, technology and financial issues.
What they had not fully anticipated were the thousands of tiny details that go mostly unnoticed by passengers but can make the difference between a successful merger and a failed one.
All airlines have their own way of doing things, developed over time and through labor negotiations. All have specific working rules, flying procedures, maintenance schedules and computer programs. And all have their own cultures. Delta always thought of itself as the gracious host. Hence its flight attendants poured the requested drinks. Northwest was the practical carrier; its attendants just handed over the can.
Go to linky for the rest... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/bu...l?ref=business
May 18, 2011, 2:59 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ATL
Programs: DL SkyMiles (Silver), UA Mileage Plus, US Scareways, AA Advantage
Posts: 336
A very interesting read! Especially liked seeing the "sticky note wall" (image below)--a very interesting, low-tech approach to a mountain of a problem. If only we could actually look close enough to see if some of those stickies were mentioning the award calendar! 
DL757ATL
DL757ATL
May 18, 2011, 3:13 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: 45° North
Programs: DL DM MM, HH Diamond
Posts: 10,196
I agree - great read!
And for those who say the merger was all bad, PMNW flyers will be happy to know that they can now enjoy larger lime wedges!
Anyone else find it odd that there is a Delta pilot picketing in the picture?
And for those who say the merger was all bad, PMNW flyers will be happy to know that they can now enjoy larger lime wedges!
Anyone else find it odd that there is a Delta pilot picketing in the picture?
May 18, 2011, 4:23 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: DL Diamond, HHonors Diamond, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,362
May 18, 2011, 4:24 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Likely being followed...
Programs: DYKWIA Extraordinaire. TrollSlayer Mega Diamond. [insert esoteric sounding status level(s) here]
Posts: 5,240
May 18, 2011, 4:25 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Likely being followed...
Programs: DYKWIA Extraordinaire. TrollSlayer Mega Diamond. [insert esoteric sounding status level(s) here]
Posts: 5,240
Found this part interesting:
The challenge, she said, was to switch the systems progressively so that passengers would not notice. Ms. Wise, who has a doctorate in applied mathematics, devised a low-tech solution: she set up a timeline of the steps that had to be performed by pinning colored Post-it notes on the wall of a conference room.
A major switch happened when the new airline canceled all Northwest’s bookings and transferred them to newly created Delta flights in January 2010. It required computer engineers to perform 8,856 separate steps stretched out over several days.
The challenge, she said, was to switch the systems progressively so that passengers would not notice. Ms. Wise, who has a doctorate in applied mathematics, devised a low-tech solution: she set up a timeline of the steps that had to be performed by pinning colored Post-it notes on the wall of a conference room.
A major switch happened when the new airline canceled all Northwest’s bookings and transferred them to newly created Delta flights in January 2010. It required computer engineers to perform 8,856 separate steps stretched out over several days.
May 18, 2011, 4:27 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: check swarm
Programs: DL DM & 2MM, SPG/Bonvoid LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, $tarbucks Titanium
Posts: 14,404
May 18, 2011, 4:28 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Likely being followed...
Programs: DYKWIA Extraordinaire. TrollSlayer Mega Diamond. [insert esoteric sounding status level(s) here]
Posts: 5,240
May 18, 2011, 4:35 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,301
May 18, 2011, 4:54 pm
#13
Moderator, Delta Skymiles and Mileage Run
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Seat 2A
Programs: DL Diamond/MM, Hyatt Diamond, former AS MVPG 75K, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,940
May 18, 2011, 5:09 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: EWR, FRA, CDG, BOS
Programs: UA-1K; DL-1MM; SPG-P75; Marriot-P
Posts: 469
"Delta’s chief information officer, Theresa Wise, said the airline had to merge 1,199 computer systems down to about 600, including one — a component within the airline’s reservation system — dating from 1966."
This must be the one running the award calender....
This must be the one running the award calender....