NWA and DAL back on track
 

So NWA told DAL they still want to merge regardless of the pilot groups decisions. Does ALPA have a contingency plan in place for something like this?

Last time I checked, they did. It will be too expensive for either one to be stupid enough to even think about it. (Last famous words...:D)

Never underestimate airline management's capacity for stupidity!

What he said!

You got it right. I can tell already there is not much difference between Anderson and previous Delta management.

The problem with the airline industry is not oil prices. The problem is for some reason this industry attracks business men who are long on ideas but short on execution.

Are the pilots unions still stalling the merger talks? Delta and Northwest has the ability to merge without pilot union consent, and without giving 30% raises to the pilot group. Hopefully the Delta and Northwest pilots will agree before management decides to take these benefits off the table and go ahead with the merger anyway.

With the bad state of the airline industry, the skyrocketing price of fuel, and the lack of pricing power preventing major airlines from raising fares, a Delta/Northwest merger (and then the UAL/CAL merger to follow) will do a great deal to fix some problems within the industry. Hopefully the Delta/Northwest pilots come to an agreement before management decides it is more beneficial to merge the airlines even without pilot consent.

If the DAL/NWA pilot groups are talking, they aren't telling anyone.

Sounds to me like you want DAL/NWA to merge so CAL can merge with UAL. I don't know if I'd want to hitch my wagon on to UAL. While every legacy is on shakey ground and not immune to what is happening, some are in a more precarious position.

On a different note, I read a press release where Steenland would get an $8 million bonus if NWA merges before the end of June. Need to see if I can find that article again.

MINNEAPOLIS — Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland will have about eight million reasons to bail out of the struggling carrier this June.
His contract _ signed the day Northwest entered bankruptcy more than two years ago _ gives him an unusual one-month window to leave voluntarily and collect a special payment of at least $7.8 million. Steenland could get the same windfall if he leaves after a merger, but it's far from certain the carrier's talks with Delta Air Lines Inc. will lead to one.
Compensation experts said such lucrative escape clauses are an incentive to keep the CEO from leaving during the rough times. Others said CEOs whose companies go into bankruptcy shouldn't get that kind of reward.

Don't think the payout has anything to do with the merger. It was an "insurance policy" for him in case his stock options were underwater, as they are right now. Nice deal, if you can get it.

The 30% pay increase spoken of is likely to end up being worth little more than the paper on which it is printed. When viewing contracts in the last ten years, all management has to do is furlough a few pilots and threaten bankruptcy and the concessions begin to roll. So the incentive to expedite a seniority list process winds up being hollow to many of those who have been around in the industry for the past ten years or so. The seniority list will be around for a lot longer than the payscale.