Poopdeck90210

3) Impeach George Bush...

-A

DHAST

Your logic makes no sense. What you're saying is that Delta pilots first got the bribe so they would then support the merger, but NW will get no candy *until* they support the merger first? If that's truly the case, I don't blame them for being pissed.

FlytheTail

Not sure this is relevant, but I love it anyway! ^ Nice one, Poopers.

SANDIEGO

Why do we have anti-trust laws, if not to stop a monopoly?

This mega-merger will have a detrimental impact on the customers of Delta and Northwest, on the free market, on the shareholders of Delta and NW, and probably on the rest of the US flying public, (because it will have the effect of causing other mega-mergers in response).

Prices will go up, consumer satisfaction will go down.

MikeMpls

A monopoly by itself is not illegal. What matters is how you get there.

mikey1003

With the industry in shambles and oil over 114.00/bbl, there ain't no way that congress will get in the way..

Face it, it isn't what any of us want-but it is a done deal

JJLA35

[QUOTE=DesertMoonDavid;9581401]First, get the facts straight about DL and SkyMiles. The OP had several errors and I should point out the following corrections:

1. DL Plat is 75K
2. DL does have unlimited domestic upgrades (of course based on availability)
3. DL gives you full EQMs across ALL classes of service (on DL)

Now, accept reality people. NW and DL both would have a much harder time of going it alone and staying in business under today's operating conditions, which are much different even from when they emerged from BK a year ago. The two have very complimentary route systems, and as a flyer on both airlines I think while yes, SkyMiles is slightly less attractive than WP, it is not the end of the world at all. And there will still be UA/CO (look for their merger announcement soon), AA and US to keep the market competitive.

Bottom line - do you want your WP miles to be worth something when the two merge or would you rather have WP miles that are worth nothing when/if (likely when) NW eventually would shut down without DL?

It seems that the NW fans are amazingly out of touch sometimes. , I think you need to leave the business decisions to MSP and ATL to run the airline in a way that maximizes revenues (not profits, there are no profits with oil at $114/bbl) and allows them to weather this storm while creating an airline that you can fly anywhere in the world without having to deal with alliance partners and partial EQMs (like on CO even).


Now, YOU accept reality. Stop telling us how to feel or act. I don't think WE are out of touch and to say: "Unless you plan to buy the airline personally" is just a silly statement.

Carolinian

Restraint of trade - monopolistic practices - is illegal. If this is not a combination in restraint of trade, I don't know what it is. All the jabber about ''pricing power'' is a clear indication of that.

Also, from what I read, the market does not like this merger. The stock of both airlines is down significantly. Investors obviously think that this is a poor business plan that is harmful to the future of both airlines. The best thing to do to keep them in business is to say no to this turkey of a merger.

We need to echo the words of John Paul Jones on the crippled ''Bonhommie RIchard'' when called to surrender replied ''I have just begun to fight'' as he went on to win the battle and capture the opposing British frigate. We don't need to be surrender monkeys who give up without a fight.

ByrdluvsAWACO

While I'm no longer a NW WP member, I do support any effort to stop this deal for two reasons.

Firstly, I hate Delta, Deltoids and anything associated with that airline. Second, I don't want to see the NW name go away. Lastly, for my own selfish reasons, I don't want to see AA as the #2 or #3 airline.

I wish you all luck in any effort to abort this ....... of airline consolidation.

Carolinian

And this nutty merger plan, instead of creating the merger euphoria boomlet that these directors representing former bankruptcy creditors wanted to unload their stock, it has sent stock values spiraling down significiantly more. I believe in another thread someone quoted 20% down for both.

That speaks volumes that this takeover will not really benefit either.

Carolinian

This is one issue we need to bring up with the DOJ. I wish they would have th balls to tell these turncoats, ''Don't even bring us the paperwork unless it shows that Dougie has renounced his golden parachute, as it is DOA otherwise''

Dougie is getting far more than the usual 30 pieces of silver for betraying NW. His $10 million payout creates a massive conflict of interest. An elected official who stood to gain such a sum from the result of a vote would have to abstain, and a judge who stood to gain from his rulings in a case would have to recuse himself. With this huge personal gain for himself in the balance, Dougie should have been barred from participating in any fashion in the discussions, and since he was involved he should not be able to gain this personal benefit.

GG

Likely imo. But Lex hasn't entirely given up hope yet. There are still hurdles.

It shouldn't have anything to do with Congress. It should be a simple anti-trust case that the DoJ nixed.

But that would be a DoJ that actually wanted to enforce the law of the land.

GG

Dick,

As you probably remember, mikey was one of the Big Four FTers who actually met with the Delta folks in the wake of the SSM campaign push. I designed the buttons that people gave out all over the place, and the billboard that rolled around the annual Shareholders meeting at the Plaza that year, which definitely got some attention. A huge number of other FTers worked really hard to get DL mgmt's attention then. Randy gave us a lot of support too.

Imo, sadly, the only real impact any of us had then was that many of us - like mikey and Lex & me, and you too, and plenty more who never heard of SSM or FT - actually walked away from Delta and stopped giving them money. THAT got their attention. That was the only thing that made any difference.

It can't hurt and might help to write the congresscritters. I'm going to. From my perspective in LEX, it takes away any competition for fares there ever was, and our fares are ridiculously high anyway.

And, hey, if you want some design work, I don't mind contributing that.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

And the absolute easiest way to get there is with the blessing and approval of the current Justice Department.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/business/25radio.html

The Justice Department gave approval on Monday, March 24 to the merger of two rival radio networks, XM and Sirius, a marriage that would create a de facto monopoly in satellite services now used by more than 17 million subscribers.

...both XM and Sirius had described as crucial to their financial stability, if not their survival.

“The B*s* administration has apparently never seen a telecommunications merger it didn’t like", said ... who leads the House Energy subcommittee on telecommunications.

Gene Kimmelman, a spokesman for Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, criticized the decision. “If this is what our competition cops do,” he said, “we might as well close shop and save taxpayers a few hundred million dollars because they’re not doing their jobs.”

---> Why would they care about one airline buying another smallish airline?

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

If it weren't for Ch. 11, both NW and DL and their FF programs would already be gone today. Ironically, if it weren't for NW's spectacularly successful joint venture with KLM, they might have been big enough to be the party doing the takeover.

If both NW and DL would have been allowed to die when they failed, perhaps we would have enjoyed the benefits of deregulation today as a couple of new, efficient well-run companies would be vying for our business instead of the Keystone Cops running crappy service on gov't Geritol with their top heavy FF programs collapsing of their own weight from miles sold to every "partner" they could find.

The airlines in their mad rush to cut costs to the bone and enhance revenues in lieu of sustainable ticket prices have already gone after their shareholders, creditors, employees, etc. are running out ways to reduce costs and therefore are driven into each other's arms. The next big place to go is after the customer. Whoever thinks they are going to ignore going after the FF program and using it to extract more money from customers is naive.

Remember, for those of us on this forum, losing NW is a really big thing. Most are grieving but are only in the first two below stages, which is normal for those with lots of emotional attachment.

The stages of Grief from Kubler-Ross:

* Denial (this isn't happening to me!)
* Anger (why is this happening to me?)
* Bargaining (I promise I'll be a better person if...)
* Depression (I don't care anymore)
* Acceptance (I'm ready for whatever comes)

It is actually quite interesting and useful to classify posts as they appear using the above scale.