‘Business as usual’ for cargo clients following Delta merger

In a major merger in the US, the carriers Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines (now to trade as Delta Air Lines) have created a combined company with approximately 75 000 employees, and serving more than 375 cites in 66 countries worldwide – more than any other airline, the carrier claims. Delta will maintain all its hubs at Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City, and Tokyo-Narita – each of which will benefit from improved global connectivity. Said Delta CEO Richard Anderson: “As we have been proving, this is a different type of merger for the industry thanks to the complementary nature of the two airlines and the calibre of the people who will make this the most successful merger in airline history.” The Delta-Northwest merger will go through an integration process over the next 12-24 months – but initially intends to continue operation of the airlines’ separate web sites www.delta. com and www.nwa.com as well as the two reservation systems and loyalty programmes. The transaction, said management, is expected to generate US$2-billion or more in annual revenue and cost synergies from more effective aircraft utilisation, a more comprehensive and diversified route system, and cost synergies from reduced overhead and improved operational efficiency. Delta closed the merger after receiving notice from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that it would not challenge the merger after reviewing its competitive impact. Earlier this year, the merger also received clearance from the European Commission (EC). Looking at the impact on cargo clients, Sarel van Wyk, sales and marketing manager of Delta’s SA agents, GSAfrica Airline Services, reckons it will be business as usual. “There will be very minimal impact from the merger for both Delta Cargo and NWA Cargo clients. As more information becomes available, it will be communicated to clients through the cargo sales team, e-mail communications and on the websites (deltacargo.com and nwacargo.com).” Worldwide, he added, schedules are currently being reviewed to right-size the new Delta, optimising the schedule with the best available aircraft for that corresponding route. “More information will be shared as implementation details become available,” Van Wyk told FTW. “The online booking tools will reflect any such changes in aircraft type. However, this is not likely to occur until the second quarter of 2009.” While for the immediate future, he sees no impact to Delta Cargo and NWA Cargo customers, Van Wyk reckoned that, as the airline is combined, additional opportunity would become available for lower deck freight customers. “The integration of the two uniquely separate fleets will offer a truly global footprint for the combined entity,” he said. “Northwest’s larger passenger aircraft, the Boeing 747-400ER and the Airbus A-330-200/300 will provide increased cargo possibilities out of various markets originally served with smaller aircraft.”