NWA, Delta will discuss merger again, report says

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have revived talks about merging, the Financial Times reported on its website Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

By STAFF and WIRE REPORTS

Last update: April 6, 2008 - 10:42 PM

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Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have revived talks about merging, the Financial Times reported on its website Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Delta and Northwest were close to announcing a merger agreement in February. The carriers gave their pilot unions time to negotiate common ground on how to rank union members by seniority, which determines pilot pay and aircraft flown.

But in a March 17 letter, the Delta pilots union chairman said that the two sides could not reach agreement on a seniority integration list.

Subsequently, Northwest management has indicated a willingness to propose a merger without first securing a pilots' seniority list.

Delta's board members agreed in a meeting late last week to go ahead with merger negotiations, news sources told the Financial Times. Those talks are now intensifying, the news organization reported.

If a merger deal proceeds, Delta is expected to acquire Northwest; the headquarters of the merged carrier would be located in Atlanta, where Delta is now based. Delta CEO Richard Anderson, who was the top executive at Northwest from 2001 to 2004, would lead the merged airline.

If a merger is proposed, it could not be implemented unless it was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has repeatedly said that he opposes a Delta-Northwest merger, because he contends it would prompt other big carriers to merge as well.

Oberstar has said that he intends to hold hearings if any large merger deals are proposed.

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