JetFlyer06

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlan...09/daily7.html

Congressman asks DOJ to halt Northwest-Delta merger


Monday, June 9, 2008 - 12:04 PM EDT

A Minnesota congressman wants to halt the Delta and Northwest airlines merger.
U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation committee, is calling on the Justice Department to reject the proposed $17.7 billion merger between Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest (NYSE: NWA) and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL).
The news comes despite officials from Delta promising legislators in early May that they will keep thousands of Northwest Airlines jobs in Minnesota after the carriers merge. The company has also said it does not plan to make any changes to Northwest's existing hub structure.
Oberstar sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting that it examine the deal in order to determine if would force other carriers to merge, resulting in raised fares and less service for consumers.

Spaceman Spliff

Oberstar can crap in one hand and wish in the other. We all know which hand will fill up first.

DYNASTY HVY

Question is can we trust CEO,s to keep their word?
Been a history of them not doing so. I,ll probably get flamed for this also,

sailingfun

If I lived in MN he would get my vote for the rest of his career. He does have some influence. There are rumors that management enthusiasm for this merger is waning. If management whispers in the right ears combined with his protest perhaps the DOJ will turn it all down.

III Corps

IF Oberstar's recent circus is any indication of his influence and focus, the guy belongs in a traveling dog and pony show. The results of his recent hearings on the FAA? Nothing much except the airlines lost tons of money due to cancelled flights, pax were inconvenienced and the only thing that the public learned is some on his panel have a hard time with English and they know little to nothing about aviation safety.

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Simple solutions are seldom either.

NWA320pilot

Oberstar is a typical politician..... He loves the limelight but rarely if ever does anything positive for the public.

Spaceman Spliff

If that is the case, it might explain why Bastian met with the NALPA MEC.

Maybe he wanted to gage their MEC's level of cooperation (or hostility, as the case may be) and get a feel for whether or not they'll "play ball" to make a deal happen...if his feeling is that they won't, maybe the board will consider walking away.

NWA320pilot

Yea, our MEC needs to learn how to deal with everyone better..... They seem to go by the assumption everyone is out to get them. Hopefully they will learn to work with DALPA and DAL so as to benefit all the pilots!

I have sent numerous letters to our MEC over their actions and words since the merger announcement. But it just seems they like to stir the pot.

capncrunch

At this point walking away might not be that bad. NWA is slim and has a big chunk of cash on hand. Walking away would cause a bunch of retirements due to those hanging on for the equity payment. Not too long after that our usual retirements kick in, the 787 will be here and they will find a replacement for the DC9. All of which adds up to I still have a job.

As it stands now, I don't see how the lowest guys are going to be around after the fall. I hope for the best but am planning on the worst. I already sold my motorcycle to get more cash in reserves for the eventual furlough.

Currently, I am starting to switch back to the thinking that we look better alone. At least until the market and the economy shape up. I think NWA by itself has a great chance to weather this storm. I'm sure the new Delta can weather the storm but they will be ditching us at the bottom to do it. A stand alone NWA looks less likely to do so.

My humble opinion,

Your Captain, the Crunch.

BDGERJMN

IMHO, Oberstar's mission to block this merger has nothing to do with the jobs in the MSP area but more importantly the corporate tax revenue the state of Minnesota will lose if they do merge and the company is based in ATL. Minnesota has one of the highest corporate tax rates in America and companies are leaving in droves for that very reason in tough economic times. NWA leaving MN would be a huge tax hit for the state in addition to any jobs lost.

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On Wisconsin!!