Just $8 Billion…
…and you could be going home with Delta Air Lines!
I’m not sure how I feel about US Airways’ bid to buy Delta. I guess I was kinda hoping Delta would emerge from bankruptcy and continue operating on its own.
Apparently Delta was not at all interested in US Airways’ proposed merger, so US Airways just proposed buying it instead.
They would still fly under the Delta brand, but the headquarters would likely not move to Atlanta. (US Airways’ home is in Tempe, AZ.) I wonder if that would mean a lot of Atlanta jobs would be eliminated? As someone who has recently gone through a downsizing of sorts recently, I think that would royally suck.
I’ve been able to redeem 25k SkySaver award tickets numerous times for the dates and destinations I preferred. I’ve had super-helpful ticketing agents help me catch a flight when the lines were insanely long. I’ve spoken to a lot of really nice Delta folks on the phone.
I guess I’m a bit of a Delta loyalist.
It will be interesting to see what happens….
i chuckled a bit when i read this. it’s some kind of reversal of fortune, isn’t it? after 9-11 delta was, without a doubt the strongest of the airlines. us air was in the worst position, and america west (who bought us air, thus the tempe, hq) couldn’t keep track of kids flying alone.
delta stubbornly refused to go into bankruptcy, instead cutting services, reengineering their frequent flyer program to piss off all of their best flyers, turing international economy into an experience that can be likened to a trailways bus, etc, etc, etc. oh, and one other little thing, they forgot to hedge their fuel. whoops.
us air, on the other hand, went into bankruptcy almost immediately, restructured to make themselves attractive to a suitor and eventually got a great deal for shareholders (primarily the state of alabama pension plan) by selling out to america west – an airline that did remember to hedge their fuel.
i’m a delta loyalist too. have flown over a quarter of a million miles with the airline since 2001. honestly, this merger is absolutely the best possible thing that could happen for the brand.