Delta Orient????

[General Lee]

That's obvious, and I commend you for it. You've got to remember, Delta only only has one union to deal with - a major advantage when it comes to flexibility. They'll get through Ch11 quicker because of it. GL, I love the route structure match up with NWA and Delta. How do you integrate the fleets?

Good question. That is the one area that is "nebulous". At first it might not matter because certain planes could be used on original routes I guess. But, the rest of our fleet is kinda old (except 738s, 764s, and 777s), so the newly formed airline could ask for low bids from Boeing and Airbus to fill in the "rest of the fleet". NW did switch to mostly Airbus, but also ordered 20 787s. That was kinda surprising--you would think they would have stuck with all Airbus--like the A350. Look at South African Airlines. They have switched their relatively small fleet from Boeing to Airbus a few times. So, it isn't beyond the realm(sp?) of possibility. We have older fleets, and someday they will need to be updated. A good old fashion showdown between Boeing and Airbus for a large order could yield some savings.... All speculation anyway. If you merge two large airlines you can get rid of one of the managements, one of the reservation groups (our large one is in India), half of the ground people at each airport they both serve, and integrate fleets slowly. We already will be getting rid of 4 fleet types initially, and NW will be getting rid of DC9s, DC10s, and some older 757s. I wish Song could have those....?

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Jim Smyth]

I can just see the sales pitch now!


Delta Orient Airlines....................... D.O.A.

 

[Workin'Stiff]

NW Fifth Freedom Rights

Not sure where you got that info, but it's wrong. How did UAL acquire Pan Am routes, FedEx the Tiger routes, etc., etc. Airlines get the routes through bilateral negotiation, and they are then "owned", the airline can sell them with approval, or be acquired, with most, if not all of the routes going along with the sale.

OK, my information was second hand. However, after looking into it, NW and UAL hold big sticks in terms of fifth freedom in Japan. They are the sole US carriers allowed to do that. So NW owns a very profitable, and very exclusive, bargaining chip in terms of the far east.

As far as Japan though, there are no "Open Skies" or bilateral agreements in terms of passenger service. There are bilateral agreements in place for cargo only. And frankly, should the merger jeopardize the routes for NW, the US and Japan would be very unlikely to keep the original agreement and keep the exclusivity that NW and UAL enjoy in place. There is a classic "monopoly" in place with regards to US-Japan service... IMHO....

 

[General Lee]

Well, Pan Am and TWA were given "exclusive" rights to London Heathrow too, and they were sold. I have heard over the last 5 years that United could sell their lucrative Narita hub---but that would be to someone else, right? All it will take is "one call, that's all"(---dumb lawyer TV commercials...) from someone in the administration to get that fixed. (Remember, the Republicans hate labor, but not management. They all give huge contributions to those people) To say that it could NEVER be changed is probably stretching it. I think "Delta European Orient" Airlines sounds wonderful. Simply FABULOUS. Su-wheat.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Workin'Stiff]

General-

Well, I didn't use the word 'never' in my post(s), but 'very unlikely'. Can't really use absolutes in this industry, right???