a) Cost was a small factor, it was the imposed "we want ALL integration done by Jan 1" deadline, that was a major factor, and the fact it was going to take that long to fix all the "gaps" between the DL and NW systems... guess how they got around all those gaps? if you don't bring that NW functionality over to DL, it really isn't a "gap"
b) They would be an airline flying people all over the world... US isn't gone, UA isn't gone, if anything they would have BK'd before NW.
c) Maybe a little, maybe alot... but I doubt they would have gutted the frequent flyer program like DL has.
Originally Posted by
troyintn
That is true. I think the DL computer systems stink, but understand the cost to change over to NWA's was to much. Some things have gone down, some better, and a lot of just the same. Overall if they had not merged where would NWA be now? the question being what would they have cut.