As I said in my earlier comment, which most people ignored, there are lots of moving flight number ranges due to the merger. It takes time to consolidate and move a carriers range in order to get NW-DL side-by-side ready for 2010 when they become one in a single reservation system.
You cannot change a range overnight. DL858 cannot be Delta one week and Pinnacle next week...they need to all move together.
Originally Posted by
indufan
Do you think those words that placed beside each other actually helped us understand merger staging?
Those are reserved for future use. They've been carved out and are getting ready for new flights.