I can't imagine that is the case. My guess is that everyone at NW knows that WP is going away so they are giving it as little time, effort, money, and thought as possible.

This is just silly.

A) They don't even know the merger is going to be approved, and
B) even if they did, they still have to at least appear competitive to the government and judicial officials.

If either airline starts making moves (either operational or otherwise) to indicate they've already made decisions on the resulting company before the merger is approved, they're in trouble.

And even though the SkyMiles name may remain, no one knows how much of the old SkyMiles program, if any, will remain in the new one.

Absolutely not. The merger agreement is public record and makes no mention of how each airline will operate its frequent flyer programs in the interim.

You have apparently never worked in a company that was going through the merger process or put itself up for sale. When companies go through stuff like this, changes are put on hold. This goes double for changes to non-core products.

Originally Posted by pbarnette But why are you angry at Delta? Shouldn't you be angry at NW? It is the vaunted WorldPerks that is not protecting you, not Delta that is disadvantaging you. NW could have chosen to match this marketing promotion, much as DL competitors UA and AA did. They did not. That is not DL's fault.


I have a feeling that NW did not have the power to make that decision. If Delta is the buyer with the money, then they get to tell NW under what conditions the deal will go through. My guess is that the double EQM deal is a way to keep DL's elites happy despite the merger. If NW had given their elites the same deal, then DL's elites would not have had any advantage.

Of course I could be wrong, and hope that as I write this, wonderful people at NW are putting together a deal for double EQM for their elites too!!!

How many Millions did they get to blow smoke up our butts??????????

So true. Whether noted as deferred maintenance, investment or expendature - depending upon the particular industry - there is certainly a historical precedent in the corporate world. It certainly keeps the books looking better in the interim.

It's just the way the (acquisition) game is played, and could explain why things may be better in DL-land during the period before M-day.

PUUUUUUUHHHHHHHLEEEEESE!!!!!!

Before pulling the rabbit out of my hat, I'd suggest you sit down with the Managing Director of WP and talk to him as to what's coming up... he talked to a number of us at the Freddies last week. They are still hiring in many departments, working on new WP promo's, new partners, etc. until a formal merger agreement is reached. Until that time, NO ONE from either company can talk to each other, make plans for a new program, etc. WP is NOT cutting funds, staff or effort for their program. Business as usual will continue until the regulatory agencies give their ok, then I think you would be right in saying things will come to a halt, but not until...

Were they serving kool aid?

What else would he say?? Do you really think that DL will keep two programs?????

Do you really think the folks at WorldPerks are going to sit on their hands waiting to "die"?

This thing hasn't even been approved, so they have to continue hiring, marketing, doing promotions, etc. as if it were any other day.

With any luck the WorldPerks name is replaced by SkyMiles in name only.

I have been in ff programs since their inception in 1981. The party is almost over. All the fun has passed. It was good while it lasted! Especially 1988's (87?) triple miles on all flights.

I am resigned to hard redemptions and just priority boarding. Even Southwest availability is worse. With lower expectations, I am not so disappointed!

Amazingly, you hear the same garbage from every manager and every CEO at every company that is considering a merger or sale or other business combination. I remember working for a company going through a merger. Everybody was distracted and there were several months where it seemed like every major decision was on hold.

My point is simply that, in periods of uncertainty such as a pending merger, companies tend to become conservative. It makes no sense to begin making major changes to a FF program when the merger may make every single one of those changes irrelevant.

If the managers are not taking a cautious approach at this time and working toward a future with the merger occupying a great deal of their minds, then they are neither human nor very good managers. If the Managing Director of WorldPerks is not spending most of his time thinking about a post-merger WP, then I would guess it is because he is too busy revising his resume. You can rest assured that someone at DL is thinking about the merger, and if NW isn't thinking about it, then they won't be bringing much to the table.

Making PE this year may be a close thing. I was rather counting on the 2500 EQM boost when I hit 60,000, but that will be in the fall. If merger has already finalized, I wonder what happens to Elite Extra Perks?

Not much to be 'excited' about... but there *is* a small nugget:Might be useful for cleaning up some of those odd/orphan accounts.
Wait & see
/.

BTW, did you read the post from the Managing Director of WP posted on FlyerTalk?

Right now the managers at WP are working to better the program. Yes, I'm sure they are thinking about the merger, but not giving it 100% of their time because as TheMoose also posted, it hasn't been greenlighted ... they can't legally talk to Delta about any of this yet! I've been speaking to my contacts at NWA, and they, like WP, are preparing themselves. When the auditors start coming in to look at how NW is run, everyone wants to be on top of their game so that the decision about which parts of NW to cut are difficult for them.

Believe me, there's ALOT more coming in the next few months from NWA, just wait! It'll be interesting to see how much innovation comes from DL in that same time...