Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines shareholders gave the go-ahead Thursday to a combination that would create the world's biggest airline, deciding that in their volatile industry their chances are better together than separate.
The stock-swap deal announced April 14 still requires Justice Department approval. One other potential hurdle is a federal lawsuit seeking to block the deal that is set for trial Nov. 5 in San Francisco.
Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson, who would be CEO after the combination, would not discuss the lawsuit, but he indicated that the carrier maintains its goal of completing the deal by the end of the year.
"We are still focused on that timeline and believe we can accomplish the timeline as stated," Anderson told reporters after the Delta shareholder vote.
At a Delta meeting near Atlanta, 99 percent of shares voted were in favor of issuing new stock as part of the transaction. Earlier in the day, at a meeting in New York, 98 percent of Northwest shares voted were in favor of Delta acquiring Northwest.
Northwest shareholders will get 1.25 shares of Delta stock for each share they own if the combination is completed. That values Northwest at roughly $2.8 billion, based on Delta's current stock price and the 277 million Northwest shares outstanding or still to be issued as part of its bankruptcy reorganization plan. That's about $800 million less than the value when the deal was announced.
The combined airline would be called Delta and keep its headquarters in Atlanta.
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