Well, technically, they OKed a joint collective bargaining agreement, but in reality, they OKed the merger of the two airlines.
It was much more popular with Northwest pilots, nearly 87 percent in favor, than at Delta, with 62 percent in favor.
That said, industry analysts say crude staying at $115/bbl could let airlines turn a profit in 2009.
Showing posts with label Northwest Airlines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northwest Airlines. Show all posts
August 11, 2008
May 02, 2008
Delta and Northwest merger flying like lead balloons in hometowns
The proposed Delta-Northwest airline merger is reportedly a big turkey in the two airlines hometowns.
In all of Georgia, only 40 percent of people favor it with 45 percent opposed. They figure it will make the hellhole called Hartsfield even more diabolical.
And, remember, this year’s GOP convention is in Minneapolis. If GOP federal regulatory agencies approve the merger, with former Northwest jobs start getting shed, it will be UGLY in the Great White North.
And, shed those jobs will be! About 1,000 “Northwest” white-collar jobs could get whacked in the Twin Cities in the merger. Plus, more union-supportive Minnesotans of various stripes don’t trust Sunbelt-incorporated Delta a whole heck of a lot.
Plus, Northwest itself already has a history of not keeping promises made to the state of Minnesota:
Later, Pawlenty said the merger could make the state issue an immediate call on $245 million in state-backed bonds.
Beyond that, financial details of the merger already have Northwest pilots bitching at their Delta opposite numbers. Employee turmoil is a great way to smash two companies together.
Sidebar: One complaint about Matt Towery’s article — the first link. claims metro Atlanta is 5 million.
WRONG.
Try closer to 3 million.
What did he do, include the whole state of Georgia as “metro Atlanta”? Throw in Chattanooga?
I’m in D/FW... we're just a little over 6 million, and I KNOW Atlanta isn't that close in size.
Update: Boosted and expanded from comments, per a person who claims metro Atlanta is more than 5 million people, or 5.27 million, to be more precise.
I may have downsized Atlanta a bit, but even with a pretty generous definition of “metro Atlanta,” it’s still straining to hit the 4-million mark.
Per my Rand-McNally (which says most recent Census estimates, so I'm assuming 2005 mid-decade), here we go.
I did a very broad 13-county definition of metropolitan Atlanta:
Bartow, Cherokee Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Paulding counties. Note — that includes the Gainesville area.
Total population? 3,649,259.
Even if those are 2000 Census numbers and not 2005 estimates, and I allow a 10 percent increase over eight years, that’s still just 4.01 million now. (And I know that, Sunbelt state and all, Georgia isn’t growing THAT fast. D/FW adds 100,000 a year. Even if we give Atlanta 70,000 a year, over eight years, and assume the 3.6 million is from 2000 and not 2005, that is at most 4.2 million today.)
Sorry, ma’am, but Atlanta just ain’t that big. There’s not a single 1 million-population county in the entire metro Atlanta area. That alone should tell it ain’t that big
Note — my 13-county area does NOT include Athens, 70 miles away, or Macon, 84 miles away, or Dalton, 91 miles away. I’m not being facetious when I say, if you want to do that, then I can make Dallas-Fort Worth have more than 7 million people instead of the roughly 6 million it actually has.
In comparison to Atlanta, the 12 counties which I see making up Dallas-Fort Worth — Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties — have a population, per the same Rand-McNally, of 5,606,792.
Sorry, Peach Staters, but that’s about 2 million more than Atlanta, for better or for worse.
In all of Georgia, only 40 percent of people favor it with 45 percent opposed. They figure it will make the hellhole called Hartsfield even more diabolical.
And, remember, this year’s GOP convention is in Minneapolis. If GOP federal regulatory agencies approve the merger, with former Northwest jobs start getting shed, it will be UGLY in the Great White North.
And, shed those jobs will be! About 1,000 “Northwest” white-collar jobs could get whacked in the Twin Cities in the merger. Plus, more union-supportive Minnesotans of various stripes don’t trust Sunbelt-incorporated Delta a whole heck of a lot.
Plus, Northwest itself already has a history of not keeping promises made to the state of Minnesota:
In exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars of state aid, Northwest vowed to build an engine facility, maintain three hangars, hire thousands of workers, and keep the hub and headquarters in Minnesota. Most plans fell short or never materialized. Since 1992, more than 6,500 Northwest workers have lost their jobs. …
Northwest executives last week said they'd honor financial agreements with the airport authority and the state. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, though, said he'd consider reworking the bond and loan deals with a newly merged airline.
Later, Pawlenty said the merger could make the state issue an immediate call on $245 million in state-backed bonds.
Beyond that, financial details of the merger already have Northwest pilots bitching at their Delta opposite numbers. Employee turmoil is a great way to smash two companies together.
Sidebar: One complaint about Matt Towery’s article — the first link. claims metro Atlanta is 5 million.
WRONG.
Try closer to 3 million.
What did he do, include the whole state of Georgia as “metro Atlanta”? Throw in Chattanooga?
I’m in D/FW... we're just a little over 6 million, and I KNOW Atlanta isn't that close in size.
Update: Boosted and expanded from comments, per a person who claims metro Atlanta is more than 5 million people, or 5.27 million, to be more precise.
I may have downsized Atlanta a bit, but even with a pretty generous definition of “metro Atlanta,” it’s still straining to hit the 4-million mark.
Per my Rand-McNally (which says most recent Census estimates, so I'm assuming 2005 mid-decade), here we go.
I did a very broad 13-county definition of metropolitan Atlanta:
Bartow, Cherokee Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Paulding counties. Note — that includes the Gainesville area.
Total population? 3,649,259.
Even if those are 2000 Census numbers and not 2005 estimates, and I allow a 10 percent increase over eight years, that’s still just 4.01 million now. (And I know that, Sunbelt state and all, Georgia isn’t growing THAT fast. D/FW adds 100,000 a year. Even if we give Atlanta 70,000 a year, over eight years, and assume the 3.6 million is from 2000 and not 2005, that is at most 4.2 million today.)
Sorry, ma’am, but Atlanta just ain’t that big. There’s not a single 1 million-population county in the entire metro Atlanta area. That alone should tell it ain’t that big
Note — my 13-county area does NOT include Athens, 70 miles away, or Macon, 84 miles away, or Dalton, 91 miles away. I’m not being facetious when I say, if you want to do that, then I can make Dallas-Fort Worth have more than 7 million people instead of the roughly 6 million it actually has.
In comparison to Atlanta, the 12 counties which I see making up Dallas-Fort Worth — Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties — have a population, per the same Rand-McNally, of 5,606,792.
Sorry, Peach Staters, but that’s about 2 million more than Atlanta, for better or for worse.
April 23, 2008
No wonder Delta and Northwest want to merge
The two airlines lost a combined $10.5 billion in the first quarter.
That just reinforces my $10.5 billion on their merger, that they’ll be shutting down a couple of their hubs. It’s an easy way to save money.
That just reinforces my $10.5 billion on their merger, that they’ll be shutting down a couple of their hubs. It’s an easy way to save money.
April 14, 2008
Delta-Northwest merger – overall bad for consumers from where I sit
Between the Federal Aviation Administration crackdown on safety, airlines in general packing planes even tighter due to fuel costs, and the likelihood of a Continental-United Merger to follow on its heels, I’m pretty skeptical about the consumer value of the Delta-Northwest merger.
For example, in this deal, Delta claims it won’t close any hubs of either airline, but that’s doubtful. I have to think the Cincinnati hub will be downgraded to a semi-hub, if not written off. Ditto for Salt Lake City. Northwest has hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit Metro and Memphis.
Sorry, Delta-Plus, but ain’t no effing way you’re keeping hubs in both Memphis and Cincy. Just ain’t happening. One’s being eliminated entirely and the other’s being downgraded. My money is on Memphis getting the ax and Cincy being downgraded.
Detroit will also be downgraded, I think. Given that Toyota now makes more cars in the U.S. than Ford or Chrysler, and may catch GM within a decade, not to mention Nissan and Honda’s U.S. operations, the combined airlines have fewer reasons to have a hub in the former Motor City, not to mention it continuing to lose population like a sieve. BFD if the airport itself built a new terminal wing just a few years ago; that was stupid.
Atlanta is obviously safe. So, too, is JFK. If Detroit Metro is downgraded, than Minneapolis-St. Paul is safe. A western presence will keep Salt Lake City safe, too.
Of course, this may not get past government antitrust regulators, especially in the aforementioned safety environment. And, given already-expressed disgruntlement, you may see a Northwest pilots’ strike if there is a merger.
Beyond that, this page points out Delta’s lousy past history of developing hubs. Surrendering LAX to United? Surrendering D/FW (where I live, and I know the history), to American? Not smart.
Assume that a United-Continental merger also closes a hub or two. Why an unmerged United has hubs in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, especially with a third western hub in Denver, is nonsensical. David Grossman of USA Today recommends it look at scaling back at LAX and Denver, as well as Washington Dulles.
As for Continental, Houston would stay as a hub, given the airline’s strong Mexico, and Latin American, routes. Newark isn’t ideal, but I don’t think a combined United-Continental would give that up, especially if Dulles were killed as a hub.
Cleveland? For the same reasons as Detroit, it doesn’t make sense as a hub. Especially in a merged airline with a hub at O’Hare, it would get killed.
So, if the government approves both mergers, you’re going to have a lot fewer options flying out the Rust Belt or Mid-South, in all likelihood.
For example, in this deal, Delta claims it won’t close any hubs of either airline, but that’s doubtful. I have to think the Cincinnati hub will be downgraded to a semi-hub, if not written off. Ditto for Salt Lake City. Northwest has hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit Metro and Memphis.
Sorry, Delta-Plus, but ain’t no effing way you’re keeping hubs in both Memphis and Cincy. Just ain’t happening. One’s being eliminated entirely and the other’s being downgraded. My money is on Memphis getting the ax and Cincy being downgraded.
Detroit will also be downgraded, I think. Given that Toyota now makes more cars in the U.S. than Ford or Chrysler, and may catch GM within a decade, not to mention Nissan and Honda’s U.S. operations, the combined airlines have fewer reasons to have a hub in the former Motor City, not to mention it continuing to lose population like a sieve. BFD if the airport itself built a new terminal wing just a few years ago; that was stupid.
Atlanta is obviously safe. So, too, is JFK. If Detroit Metro is downgraded, than Minneapolis-St. Paul is safe. A western presence will keep Salt Lake City safe, too.
Of course, this may not get past government antitrust regulators, especially in the aforementioned safety environment. And, given already-expressed disgruntlement, you may see a Northwest pilots’ strike if there is a merger.
The Northwest pilots union said in a statement: “This agreement clearly disadvantages NWA pilots both with respect to economic issues and seniority list integration.
“The NWA MEC will use all resources available to aggressively oppose the merger.”
Beyond that, this page points out Delta’s lousy past history of developing hubs. Surrendering LAX to United? Surrendering D/FW (where I live, and I know the history), to American? Not smart.
Assume that a United-Continental merger also closes a hub or two. Why an unmerged United has hubs in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, especially with a third western hub in Denver, is nonsensical. David Grossman of USA Today recommends it look at scaling back at LAX and Denver, as well as Washington Dulles.
As for Continental, Houston would stay as a hub, given the airline’s strong Mexico, and Latin American, routes. Newark isn’t ideal, but I don’t think a combined United-Continental would give that up, especially if Dulles were killed as a hub.
Cleveland? For the same reasons as Detroit, it doesn’t make sense as a hub. Especially in a merged airline with a hub at O’Hare, it would get killed.
So, if the government approves both mergers, you’re going to have a lot fewer options flying out the Rust Belt or Mid-South, in all likelihood.
March 18, 2008
Southwest not only airline with inspection issues
Heck, it’s not even the only airline in Dallas-Fort Worth with inspection issues. Yes, we’re talking about you, American Airlines. AND, we’re talking about the same Federal Aviation Administration investigator who later gave Southwest a pass to keep flying uninspected jets.
Wonderful. So, for those of us who live in D/FW, who don’t trust either one of the hub airlines now, what do we fly? Northwest, even if it flew that many planes into here, has its own set of broadly similar allegations.
Meanwhile, The Dallas Morning News aviation blog is bringing out the nutbars. That includes a gasbag lawyer claiming an American pilot is blogging in order to help Southwest.
Yeah, we’ll see actual low fares from both airlines before that happens.
Last year, Southwest disclosed to the FAA that 46 jets missed airworthiness inspections, but it didn’t immediately ground them; an FAA supervisor appears to have known Southwest didn't stop flying after indicating that it would.
Inspectors in the office overseeing American Airlines have made similar complaints about their efforts to police American, according to two inspectors who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to talk to the media.
The FAA supervisor in (Dallas suburb) Irving who oversaw Southwest’s maintenance, and gave tacit permission to keep flying the jets, previously had the same duty for American Eagle, (American’s commuter/puddle-jumper airline).
Between 1997 and 2002, FAA inspectors documented more than 60 enforcement cases against American and American Eagle, according to FAA records.
Wonderful. So, for those of us who live in D/FW, who don’t trust either one of the hub airlines now, what do we fly? Northwest, even if it flew that many planes into here, has its own set of broadly similar allegations.
Meanwhile, The Dallas Morning News aviation blog is bringing out the nutbars. That includes a gasbag lawyer claiming an American pilot is blogging in order to help Southwest.
Yeah, we’ll see actual low fares from both airlines before that happens.
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