Justice approves Delta-Northwest airline merger

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Justice approves Delta-Northwest airline merger

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department has approved a much-anticipated merger between Delta and Northwest, clearing the way for the creation of the world's largest airline.

Federal regulators said Wednesday the merger would likely benefit consumers without substantially reducing competition.

Another hurdle remains ahead, however: a federal lawsuit seeking to block the deal. Trial is set for Nov. 5 in San Francisco.

The combined airline would be called Delta and keep its Atlanta headquarters and its chief executive, Richard Anderson.

Northwest would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta during the integration process.

Wednesday's decision caps a six-month Justice Department investigation of the deal.

[Talent312]

"Another hurdle remains ahead, however: a federal lawsuit seeking to block the deal. Trial is set for Nov. 5 in San Francisco."

... Actually, that case has been settled and its full steam ahead ...

AP - NEW YORK – Delta Air Lines has completed its $2.8 billion deal to acquire Northwest Airlines, creating the world's biggest carrier.

The announcement late Wednesday marked a swift conclusion to the deal. Earlier in the day, the Justice Department granted antitrust approval, and a lawyer for 28 air travelers who had sued to block the deal said the parties had settled the case.

[Carolinian]

Dreadful news, but expected given the economic climate. One of the best ff programs will now be swallowed by one of the most anti-consumer airlines out there. It was always expected that the only real chance for a pro-consumer result was for this to still be on the plate of the Justice Department of the next administration. It was hoped that the lawsuit would keep it tied up that long, but it did not It was always assumed that the present Justice Department would be patsies for management and their oligopoly-prone ways and they performed as expected.

It is really too bad that US did not succeed in taking over DL when they tried earlier. That would have paired the two most anti-consumer airlines together, which would have been a more fitting match. Both of those are on the cutting edge of destroying ff programs. NW, on the other hand, was one of the airlines that prior to its tie-up with DL was most likely to put its foot down and refuse to go along with DL's anti-customer schemes, like the Rob Borden actions a few years ago, which kept them from spreading industry-wide. Thus this move is incredibly negative for anyone with ff miles, but more so, of course those with NW WP miles, which will turn into a pumpkin by at some point by being changed 1:1 for devalued DL SkyPiles.

For anyone holding NW WP miles, the goal right now should be BURN BABY BURN while you can still get a reasonable value for those miles.

Anyone with NW elite status should also take advantage of the fact that CO will comp NW status, or that one can do a challenge with AA or UA to acquire status there. US is as bad as DL for ff'ers, and even though they too will comp status, that would not gain much.

[Carolinian]

Not only do Ameicans lose one of the most customer-friendly ff programs to be taken over by one of the most customer-unfriendly, but the same is happening on this side of the pond, too, as the takeover of BMI by Lufthansa has been announced. BMI has long promoted itself as the ''most generous ff program in Europe'' and they have been. A trans-Atlantic flight, even in summer, is only 45K miles (DL now starts at 60K yearround while most US majors are 50K).

While it has not been announced, it is certain that at some point our Diamond Club miles will be devalued into Miles and More, just as World Perks miles will be devalued into SkyMiles. Speaking of LH's ff program, I chuckled when I saw the SkyEurope billboard last time I was in the departure hall in Vienna, whose headline in a takeoff on the name of their competitor's ff program screamed ''Miles and Less!'' Interestingly, that has been the nickname given by Lufthansa flyers to their ff program in recent years.

Well now I have to try to burn my Diamond Club miles as well as my World Perks miles while they still have some value.

[stevelb]

I totally agree with all that you have said. The BMI takeover is really sour to me. I also plan to use up my BMI miles as quickly as possible.

[Carolinian]

Originally Posted by stevelb

I totally agree with all that you have said. The BMI takeover is really sour to me. I also plan to use up my BMI miles as quickly as possible.

Yeah, Lufthansa comes with hefty fuel surcharges, which BMI doen't have, at least on its European flights.

And BMI one of the few airlines to allow redemption for a one way ticket, starting at 9K miles for a one-way ticket within zone one and 12K for a one-way to anywhere within Europe that they or their *A partners fly. This is the opposite of DL's new three-tier chart that seems to allow one way redemptions at first glance until you see that the numbers are only half of a required round trip redemption. DL did that to disguise some of its milage increases like on TATL flights, but that's par for the course on DL's dishonest way of dealing with customers.

BMI will be missed.