Ten Years Since Delta-Northwest Merger
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Formerly at PIT, now planted near MSP.
Programs: No flights since April 2019 (Medical Issues). Lost all my status.
Posts: 1,483
Ten Years Since Delta-Northwest Merger
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/a-de...-industry.html
“"Northwest was an analytical powerhouse...but labor relations and passenger service were lacking," said Jamie Baker, a senior airline analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase. "Pre-merger Delta, on the other hand, was arithmetically challenged and did little in the way of financial analysis, but they fostered a very strong employee culture and were well-regarded by customers.....”
“"Northwest was an analytical powerhouse...but labor relations and passenger service were lacking," said Jamie Baker, a senior airline analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase. "Pre-merger Delta, on the other hand, was arithmetically challenged and did little in the way of financial analysis, but they fostered a very strong employee culture and were well-regarded by customers.....”
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,015
First NW flight was in Sep.,1989 from DTW-LAX with girlfriend (and future wife) to watch Elvis Grbac and the Michigan Wolverines face UCLA in Rose Bowl Stadium. Quite the memorable trip as Elvis led the Wolverines to a last minute 24-23 victory over UCLA. My wife and I will be celebrating our 28th anniversary this year. Say what you will about NW, but they always treated their Elites pretty well. As a Gold Elite, the upgrades were pretty much automatic. Even the 69 seat ARJ-85's had 16 FC seats.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,036
NW kept the DC9s and 10s longer then most. However can't say I can remember any issues other then really old and unrefurbed planes with NW. Also I actually enjoyed the WBC seat on the DC10. Each airline had their differences, but I think for the most part they were minor.
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Orlando, FL Area
Programs: Delta SkySponge ExtraAbsorbent, SPG Gold
Posts: 29,988
Northwest was probably the best US airline if you were flying to Asia or needed a shuttle to Amsterdam.
Delta had the best network to Europe and Africa as well as a nice presence to the Caribbean, Latin, and South America.
All of the majors except for US Airways had a good presence in Hawaii.
I had been hoping for Delta and Continental to merge as it had been previously attempted about twenty years ago. It would have been amazing.
I think American and Northwest would have been a better fit and then that would leave United with US Airways. United would have had a badly needed hub in the southeast in that scenario.
Delta had the best network to Europe and Africa as well as a nice presence to the Caribbean, Latin, and South America.
All of the majors except for US Airways had a good presence in Hawaii.
I had been hoping for Delta and Continental to merge as it had been previously attempted about twenty years ago. It would have been amazing.
I think American and Northwest would have been a better fit and then that would leave United with US Airways. United would have had a badly needed hub in the southeast in that scenario.
#7
Join Date: May 2015
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP, DL FO, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 6,712
If you compare to DL today sure. However I feel all airlines back then were more or less on same level. IME CO under Gordon was the best out there. What we expect today for service in terms of product wasn't done by any airline.
NW kept the DC9s and 10s longer then most. However can't say I can remember any issues other then really old and unrefurbed planes with NW. Also I actually enjoyed the WBC seat on the DC10. Each airline had their differences, but I think for the most part they were minor.
NW kept the DC9s and 10s longer then most. However can't say I can remember any issues other then really old and unrefurbed planes with NW. Also I actually enjoyed the WBC seat on the DC10. Each airline had their differences, but I think for the most part they were minor.
#8
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,885
Nearly certain I flew NW to MSP in 1996 for the (second) MST3K con oddly, although that was in my more packrattish era, apparently I kept everything except boarding passes, so I can't 100% confirm it.
This would have been in my just-after-college days as a kettle.
This would have been in my just-after-college days as a kettle.
#9
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Motown
Programs: DL, WN, AA, IHG Diamond, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,408
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
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Posts: 11,595
There were just generally less people flying back then, or more capacity, or both. As a DL FO, I never missed an NW upgrade with the reciprocal upgrade program. Those were the days...of good upgrade percentages.
#11
Join Date: Aug 2016
Programs: Delta
Posts: 87
If you compare to DL today sure. However I feel all airlines back then were more or less on same level. IME CO under Gordon was the best out there. What we expect today for service in terms of product wasn't done by any airline.
NW kept the DC9s and 10s longer then most. However can't say I can remember any issues other then really old and unrefurbed planes with NW. Also I actually enjoyed the WBC seat on the DC10. Each airline had their differences, but I think for the most part they were minor.
NW kept the DC9s and 10s longer then most. However can't say I can remember any issues other then really old and unrefurbed planes with NW. Also I actually enjoyed the WBC seat on the DC10. Each airline had their differences, but I think for the most part they were minor.
#12
Join Date: May 2015
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP, DL FO, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 6,712
It certainly helped that PMNW DC9s had 16 FC seats. Back when the airlines foolishly pursued FFs and marketshare instead of real sources of revenue.
#13
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
I miss flying the old DC9s between DTW and MBS, which was about a 20-minute flight. I also miss the Avro RJ85 that would fly this route and others, when the DC9 wasn't being used. I don't miss the Saab 340s.
Most of all, I miss having a hometown airline in Detroit. Delta treats Detroit very poorly.
Most of all, I miss having a hometown airline in Detroit. Delta treats Detroit very poorly.
#14
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,223
When I was an automotive employee based out of Detroit, I flew NWA almost exclusively in the 80's and early 90's. They were good for TPAC, but things got pretty horrible out of DTW in the later 90s. Hostile employees, lots of maintenance delays, etc. I remember flying in the upper deck of the 747 to NRT around 1989. There wasn't any entertainment systems, and the seats were like angled 2-2. But I thought they were great flights. The upper deck was non smoking. Going downstairs during the flight was like going in to a haze as there was a huge smoking section on Japan flights.
When WN started flying out of DTW, it was a cause for celebration as the BNA -DTW route that I took every week was so frequently delayed on NWA.
NWA had a deal with the automakers on some of the routes. When I was with GM in the mid 90s, we would shuttle back and forth between DTW and FRA, but the business class seats were always in disrepair, and the service was pretty bad. AA tried to make inroads by matching prices for GM employees to FRA through ORD and upgrade the ORD-FRA route to first class. I flew that a few times, but most GM employees had all their miles with NW so were reluctant to switch.
I had rarely, if ever, flown DL before the merger, and pretty much lost track of things during the merger (I had stopped flying and no longer worked in automotive). One day in 2010, out of curiosity, I looked up my DL frequent flyer account. I was shocked to find several 100K miles in the account that had apparently transferred from NWA. (I thought I had just lost them). Luckily, they don't expire, or I never would have known they existed. I have since used them all up.
I am not sure, but I think my 'lifetime miles' counter with DL includes the NW flights.
When WN started flying out of DTW, it was a cause for celebration as the BNA -DTW route that I took every week was so frequently delayed on NWA.
NWA had a deal with the automakers on some of the routes. When I was with GM in the mid 90s, we would shuttle back and forth between DTW and FRA, but the business class seats were always in disrepair, and the service was pretty bad. AA tried to make inroads by matching prices for GM employees to FRA through ORD and upgrade the ORD-FRA route to first class. I flew that a few times, but most GM employees had all their miles with NW so were reluctant to switch.
I had rarely, if ever, flown DL before the merger, and pretty much lost track of things during the merger (I had stopped flying and no longer worked in automotive). One day in 2010, out of curiosity, I looked up my DL frequent flyer account. I was shocked to find several 100K miles in the account that had apparently transferred from NWA. (I thought I had just lost them). Luckily, they don't expire, or I never would have known they existed. I have since used them all up.
I am not sure, but I think my 'lifetime miles' counter with DL includes the NW flights.
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,036
I miss flying the old DC9s between DTW and MBS, which was about a 20-minute flight. I also miss the Avro RJ85 that would fly this route and others, when the DC9 wasn't being used. I don't miss the Saab 340s.
Most of all, I miss having a hometown airline in Detroit. Delta treats Detroit very poorly.
Most of all, I miss having a hometown airline in Detroit. Delta treats Detroit very poorly.
Last edited by flyerCO; Apr 8, 2018 at 7:10 am