Delta and Northwest to become one, in unholy merger matrimony Options

[Hartmann]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2161220c-0a7a-11...?nclick_check=1

I'm not too thrilled. This will be good for the airlines but there will be short term repercussions for passengers, namely, higher prices. At least they will be keeping their hubs, the only question is "for how long?". Memphis will have to go at some point as it directly competes with Delta's Cincinnati hub. I could see them growing Seattle or Portland as bigger hubs since the west coast is a weak point for Delta.

This could potentially kill off some of the lower cost carriers as well, Frontier comes to mind.

If the other airlines follow suit we could see Continental and United merging and AA eating up US Airways.

Of course, all of this relies on the merger being approved by the politicians. If that happens, the elite reciprocity between Northwest and Continental will become void, but hopefully not until 2009.