Delta-Northwest Merger Going Cold
With pilots from both Delta and Northwest still wrestling over seniority, hopes for a successful merger are circling the drain.
The Financial Times just reported that if no announcement was made within two weeks, the deal should be "assumed dead."
At the center of the debate is pilot seniority. Delta has a relatively young pilot pool that currently enjoys high seniority, and they don't see much reason to give it up.
Perhaps the two companies should have seen this coming. The Houston Chronicle says that two years after America West and US Airways combined, pilots are still fighting over who's on top -- for good reason:
To airline pilots, seniority is just as important as pay. Their place in the pecking order determines what kind of planes they can fly, what routes they're assigned, whether they can be home for the holidays.
So potentially fewer cheap seats and disgruntled pilots? Maybe it's a good thing we're still waiting on a deal.
Related Stories:
· Delta/Northwest Merger Put on Life Support [FT]
· Pilot Seniority Big Issue [Houston Chron]
· Airline Mergers coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: daiji]
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