Delta

Seen at the Courant’s Coach Class blog:

Curious that Delta Air Lines should choose one of the biggest news days of the past century to slide out some changes to its fee structure. Doesn’t Delta realize that people might be too distracted by the election to pay attention? […]

[Delta is] falling in line on fees for the first checked bag. So this fee, which the airlines blamed on high fuel prices, is now institutionalized on all the Big Six (soon to be Big Five) legacy carriers. Regardless of fuel price, which have fallen to less than half their peak.

Thank goodness I travel light when possible.  (“That’s all you’re bringing” is a common refrain when I travel with coworkers.)  However, I dread seeing more folks trying to stretch the bounds of carryon baggage…or the slowdown at check-in as the baggage fee is collected.

Delta/Northwest’s baggage fee will be $15 for the first bag, and $25 for the second bag, effective December 5.

There are other changes, not all of which are bad – reduction of telephone booking fees, elimination of Delta’s curbside-check-in fee, elimination (for now) of the fuel surcharge on award tickets…and Delta’s adoption of Northwest’s practice of surcharging certain seat selections for non-elite flyers.

The bag fee is bad PR.  Presumably that’s why the announcement was made on a day when almost no one would pay attention.

Looks like those orphan miles I have in my Delta SkyMiles account might finally be salvaged. Quoting the New York Times:

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines agreed to merge late Monday, in a $3.1 billion deal that would create the world’s biggest airline and could prompt other airlines to pursue mergers of their own.[...]

Seven board members from Delta and five from Northwest would join the board of the new airline, to be known as Delta. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents pilots at both airlines, would receive a board seat.[...]

Pardus Capital Management, an investment firm, estimated in November that a combination of Delta and Northwest could reduce costs by about $1.5 billion a year, in large part by combining hubs. Delta’s hub in Cincinnati is close to Northwest’s in Detroit. And Northwest’s hub in Memphis is close to Delta’s in Atlanta.

Some earlier discussion that I read indicated that the merger proposed maintaining current levels of operations (i.e., not shutting hubs) for about a year post-merger. Assuming that’s true, and remains true in light of fuel cost pressures…I’d still expect CVG and MEM to be de-hubbed as soon as the merged Delta can get away with it.

What will be very interesting is to see how the competition responds to that eventual reduced utilization of those soon-to-be-former fortress hubs. If it weren’t for the pressure high fuel prices is placing on airlines’ bottom lines, I’d expect Southwest, for example, to attempt to move in big. After all, Southwest already has a loyal crowd in Memphis who drive to Little Rock or Nashville to take advantage of the significantly lower fares.

I suppose that this reduces the odds that I’ll see direct passenger flights between my current home airport (BDL) and my old hometown (MEM) anytime soon. However, relief from the tortuous cost to fly into Memphis will be welcome.

Update: The BDL spotters mailing list passed along a link to a DL-NW merger propaganda website, which includes information on what the merged airline would look like for different airports. BDL-MEM still shows on that website…but I won’t be surprised if that disappears too long post-merger in a savings-driven dehubbing of MEM.

This has, for the past couple of years, seemingly been a question more of “when” than “if”, but it looks like those questions might be getting an answer soon. From the Financial Times:

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are closing in on an agreement to merge the two US carriers, people familiar with the discussions said.

The airlines may clinch the landmark accord as early as the middle of this month, the people said, though they cautioned that negotiations could still stall or even collapse.

Like most folks with some connection to Memphis, I’m wondering:

• How quickly will Northwest disassemble its fortress hub there, allowing fares to drop to an affordable level?
• How soon will Southwest move in and/or Airtran expand at MEM?