I worry a bit. I am afraid this merger will result in higher fares. I also very much concern if they switch alliances. I have to stay with StarAllience; that means that if new airline (whatever is called) switches to Skyteam, I will have to switch too. I e-mailed my concern to US Air; it might help.
Originally Posted by vysean
I voted yes, it would be a good thing. But I think it is better for HP/US flyers than Delta flyers. I would hope US wouldn't change much of the current Delta system - while I haven't flown them in two years, it has always been a consistently good to great experience.
As PSU Mudder mentions, I don't understand why they made this offer when NW is IMO clearly the more logical merger partner. Fleet similarities (excepting DC9/10 and 747), complementary route structures (hello Asia/India), and the fact that they're still in (or recently out of) BK should mean they'd be an ideal candidate for merger/buy-out by US.
So I'm wondering if the offer for DL was simply a somkescreen to pursue something with NW? And yes, I realize that it is illegal to make such an offer without intent to buy - but if you know there is 0% chance of your offer being accepted, it's not very risky. So now they've got the funding, they've got the publicity, once (if) DL turns them down, why not go for NW?
If DL happens, I'll love the ability to get to South America. I really hope the combined US/DL stays in *A, 'cause I don't think SkyTeam is nearly as strong.
In any case, another merger hopefully won't be as big of a mess as the US/HP one has been (at least in terms of integration issues). I would love a US/NW or US/DL merger, but I think the LCC model is inherently and deeply flawed from a customer value perspective (higher fares, lower, inconsistent service = what kind of benefit to the customer?).
Sean