Well Dan Katz got date of hire for Republic against Northwest in that merger which had the greatest disparity in equipment, career path, and nature and character of hired airline in the history of airline mergers. That goes for before or since I might add. Remember that Northwest had the longest average stage length under the American flag at that time and the second highest average gross weight(behind Flying Tigers). Republic had 8 727's and 6 757's (3 flying and something like 3 ordered) and the world's largest fleet of DC-9's.. AND they got date of hire....The differences between the current Delta and Northwest are miniscule by comparison so let's see what Dec. 8 has to offer.....