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.
