The announcement that Delta and Northwest will indeed merge is wonderful news for me. Here's why:
1. The combined airline will be Delta. I don't have to mess around with my SkyMiles, Crown Room membership, Platinum status, etc. Northwest doesn't have a World Club at MSY. Even though World Club and Crown Room memberships are reciprocal, flying on Northwest means leaving from Concourse A when Delta is over on D. The merger will most likely mean that Continental will move off of Concourse D to make room for the Northwest flights.
2. Singapore on Delta. My last trip to Singapore was on Northwest. There was just no way to make it work on Delta, even going east to Paris and trying Air France. It was a great trip, but a Delta trip to Asia means I get the 100% Platinum bonus.
3. Memphis instead of ATL. Delta suspended hub operations at DFW when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. The storm had already forced major operational cutbacks for Delta out of MSY, nost notably the loss of most of the flights to the Salt Lake City hub. That's meant I have to go to ATL to get to the west coast, making for longer flights. With the merger, hopping up to Memphis, then north to Chicago, or out to the west coast will shorten my overall flying time. Additionally, it's faster getting to Tokyo/Narita from Detroit than Atlanta.
4. Delta stays healthy. Air France, the other big SkyTeam partner is reportedly willing to invest over $700million in the merged airline. Until something can be done by the government to settle down fuel prices, the airline will need that outside cash influx.
5. Delta employees are the best! It's definitely a southern charm thing. Give me Delta pilots, flight attendants, and gate agents any day. And of all these folks the folks who staff the Crown Room Clubs at SAN, SFO, ORD, ATL, BOS, and (last but certainly never least) MSY are worth their weight in gold.
I'm sure I'll come up with other reasons this is a good merger as the details come out.
1. The combined airline will be Delta. I don't have to mess around with my SkyMiles, Crown Room membership, Platinum status, etc. Northwest doesn't have a World Club at MSY. Even though World Club and Crown Room memberships are reciprocal, flying on Northwest means leaving from Concourse A when Delta is over on D. The merger will most likely mean that Continental will move off of Concourse D to make room for the Northwest flights.
2. Singapore on Delta. My last trip to Singapore was on Northwest. There was just no way to make it work on Delta, even going east to Paris and trying Air France. It was a great trip, but a Delta trip to Asia means I get the 100% Platinum bonus.
3. Memphis instead of ATL. Delta suspended hub operations at DFW when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. The storm had already forced major operational cutbacks for Delta out of MSY, nost notably the loss of most of the flights to the Salt Lake City hub. That's meant I have to go to ATL to get to the west coast, making for longer flights. With the merger, hopping up to Memphis, then north to Chicago, or out to the west coast will shorten my overall flying time. Additionally, it's faster getting to Tokyo/Narita from Detroit than Atlanta.
4. Delta stays healthy. Air France, the other big SkyTeam partner is reportedly willing to invest over $700million in the merged airline. Until something can be done by the government to settle down fuel prices, the airline will need that outside cash influx.
5. Delta employees are the best! It's definitely a southern charm thing. Give me Delta pilots, flight attendants, and gate agents any day. And of all these folks the folks who staff the Crown Room Clubs at SAN, SFO, ORD, ATL, BOS, and (last but certainly never least) MSY are worth their weight in gold.
I'm sure I'll come up with other reasons this is a good merger as the details come out.
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