Star Alliance here we come! :D

All of the sudden I wonder about that. I think the NW/DL merger will receive very little scrutiny, but the one after that will get a lot. A crap load of DOJ lawyers have a chilling effect on things.

NWA e-mail
 

Dear mdaecher,


As a valued Northwest Airlines customer and WorldPerks® member, I wanted you to be among the first to hear that we have announced a merger with Delta Air Lines. Subject to regulatory review, our two airlines are joining forces to create America’s premier global airline which, upon closing of the merger, will be called Delta Air Lines.

By combining Northwest and Delta, we are building a stronger, more resilient airline that will be a leader in providing customer service and value. 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.

The combined Delta Air Lines will serve more U.S. communities and connect to more worldwide destinations than any global airline. Our hubs – both Delta’s and Northwest’s – will be retained and enhanced. We will be the only U.S. airline to offer direct service from the United States to all of the world’s major business centers in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa and around North America.

Both airlines bring tremendous strengths to this new partnership. Our complementary service networks form an end-to-end system that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. This is a merger by addition, not subtraction, which means all of our hubs – both Northwest’s and Delta’s – will be retained. In addition, building on both airlines’ proud, decades-long history of serving small communities, we plan to enhance global connections to small towns and cities across the U.S.

All of these positive benefits of our combination mean that we can:
Offer a true global network where our customers will be able to fly to more destinations, have more schedule options and more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles in what will become the world’s best and most comprehensive frequent flyer program.
Continue to serve our current roster of destinations and to maintain our hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and Tokyo.
Improve our customers’ travel experience, through new products and services including enhanced self-service tools, better bag-tracking technology, more onboard services, including more meal options, new seats and refurbished cabins.
While we work to secure approval of our merger, which may take up to 6 to 8 months, it will be business-as-usual at both airlines. We will continue to operate as independent airlines and the people of Northwest will remain focused on providing you with the very best in safe, reliable and convenient air travel. At the same time, both airlines will be planning for a seamless integration of our two airlines, one that delivers to you the enhanced benefits that will earn – and retain – your preference.

As we work through this process, we will keep you informed at every step along the way. Thank you for your business and we look forward to serving you on your next Northwest flight.

Sincerely,

Bob Soukup
Managing Director, WorldPerks

:D :D :D

It must be a done deal that UA and CO merge after the NW/DL deal.

I am not going to go through over 70 pages of posts in this thread. I did however pop over here to see how the CO folks were viewing things. Now, I must admit, I am a UA person and do see things from a UA perspective, more so than for a CO perspective. However, I have noticed a lot of interesting speculation on the whole process over here and will offer my 2 cents worth

1) If this is a merger, there won't be a purchasing airline it will be a merger hence both companies disappear from one standpoint and a new company will be born. I personally think the company will be called United, but run with a large chunk of CO management. (the UA management has seemed to me to be more of an interm management than an airline management)

2) Classes of service-- I see E+ staying and being added to CO as opposed to it disappearing. on most of the narrow body aircraft E+ was created by removing one row of E from the plane. That is six seats total. if you figure you make $200/seat on a flight (and that assumes the flight is 100% sold) your lost revenue is $1200 (by having E+). UA now sells E+ for anywhere from $25-$500 (depending on the length of the flight and other considerations) So if you have say 10 people buy the seats in E+ for $50/seat you made $500, but lost $700 (if you could have sold the flight out). As most flights don't go out 100% full, E+ doesn't usually cost UA anything in terms of lost revenue. Only in some cases does it cost revenue, and this is most likely offset now a days by the E+ upcharge on other flights. further, E+ is a factor that can be used to differentiate the merged entity from the competition.

International F -- that is one I do not know the answer to. I am sure there are reasons for it to stay and there are reasons for it to go. The cost of providing the service is not much more than the cost of C/J. If there was to be a service cut that is where I would expect to see it.

3) Upgrades -- I hate to say it to the folks of EUA, but I suspect that they will be a thing of the past. With Upgrade certs, there is a profit center for the airline. You only earn (at UA) 4 coupons good for 500 miles each for every 10K miles you fly. You can buy the coupons in packs of 4 for $200. So if you upgraded every flight you took and they were all exact increments of 500, you would need to buy 4 packs at $800. The profit motive is there to sell the upgrades instead of giving them away.

International upgrades -- I can totally see the CO co-pay staying with the merged entity. Again it is an area where additional revenue can be generated. I think the SWU will remain, but it may get limited in usage. Again this is an area where we will see what happens if the merger goes down.


4) Other comments -- I don't PS will go TATL on the 757. From what I have heard the PS 757 weighs too much for that to happen. Hubs, I have no idea what will happen with them, other than to say I think EWR, IAD, ORD, DEN, IAH, SFO/LAX will stay. I think CLE might be on the block, but they may keep it as well.

I could definately go on, but wont.

Again I appologize if this has been said earlier.

Only time will tell what really happens, and I guess I will wait and see what happens.

Is this an early declaration of war to the new Contited/Unental?
 

from http://newglobalairline.com/about/competition/


# Western U.S. customers traveling to Asia will gain an alternative to United, which currently offers more service from Western U.S. cities to Asia than any other carrier.
# New York customers gain an improved alternative to Continental. Delta and Northwest’s combined strengths in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will enhance competition from New York.
# Los Angeles customers gain an improved alternative to United, which currently provides the most extensive service from LAX to markets in Asia, Latin America, and the U.S

War it is.

It indeed looks as if that's quite a shot across the bow of Uninental.

Well isn't that special? I'm wondering what AA is thinking of all this given the huge outlay of capital they had when they grounded their Mad Dogs.

So...my money is on a CO/UA announcement in New York after the stock market closes on Wednesday. The combined company will be called United and HQed in Houston.

Timing: probably right
Location: IAH
Name: Continental
HQ: Houston

UA was not the initiator...

More importantly for all the UA folks, does this mean Death to Theodore?

mdaecher, that is not a real e-mail is it?

I give the CO/UA announcement a week, if for nothing other than that moment where CO and UA look at each other and say, "should we do this", "I am not sure we should be doing this", and "what happens when the DOJ catches us, they'll ground me for life"

:D

TED is going join COlite and Song in the graveyard of bad ideas.

deleted because I think it is lame to post twice in a row.

Let's hope so