Dear Delta,
Please explain to us why this:
Has now become this:
Delta (DL) and Northwest (NW) announced a merger several months ago, back in the Bush-43 years. They did everything they could to lobby the public to support the merger (or at least not lash out against it). Of course, the Bush-43 Justice Department and Department of Transportation approved the merger. It's only today that we are all beginning to reap what that corrupt Justice Department allowed Delta to proverbially "sow" for us.
The screen shots above are from www.newglobalairline.com. The top picture was captured on or about the date of the announcement of the desire for the two companies to merge. The bottom picture, captured today.
Delta promised us routine updates via the website…well those are gone. The merger, while technically complete, is far from resulting in a "new global airline". I guess Delta feels the word "routine" has a far different meaning than I do! I haven't gotten anything on the merger in months….with the exception of the merging of the frequent flier programs. Of course, they have to find a way to move the loyal NW customers over to being loyal DL customers.
Someone that works in the air transport industry asked me today what I thought about the merger today, here were my comments:
Being a Northwest Platinum elite, I have a very sincere love of NWA (now called by some "Delta Red"), their service, policies, and overall product. Having lived in the Atlanta, GA area for 2 years and flown weekly from Hartsfield (several times on the "old Delta" or "Delta Blue"), I have a high disdain for that company, their people, policies, and product.
The first paragraph, being publication ready as it is, I can now tell you what I really think. I hear a giant sucking sound in the skies and it's not some couple in the lav...It's this merger and the sound emanates from ATL.
A website was launched when the merger started newglobalairline.com...try going to that site now...it is still up, but the covers have now been pulled up around the proverbial ears of the merged Delta....no informational updates are being provided…
I noticed last week they (Northwest & it's partner carriers) have totally stopped announcing NW flight numbers...they continue to be coded NW and DL codeshare since the FAA has not issued a single operation certificate, but they simply have replaced the word Northwest with Delta in all announcements. I asked the station manager on duty in MEM for information about it, she dodged my question...so I asked again, "Please can you give me an answer, I'd like to blog about it"...she referred me to DL legal counsel....weird.
The station managers at SDF for NW both told me they have less than 3 weeks until their jobs are eliminated and Delta will staff and work all flights, gates, and ramp duties at SDF, LEX, and many similar sized airports. Delta is not hiring additional staff, at least they don't plan to....we all know what this means...customer service nightmares.
They did also mention that plans for the merged DL flights at SDF include larger planes, but my guess is that also means fewer flights.
The merger is bad for all employees involved, customers, & airports that aren't DL hubs...we'll have to wait and see what happens to the NW hubs (MEM, MSP, DTW) once the single operational certificate is issued by the FAA. Many think MEM will be massively scaled back with more hub ops shifting to CVG, and I really like MEM because it's easy to get around in, I loathe CVG….damn shuttle busses!
But hey, this is great for Delta senior management...just ask them.
Too many things about these airlines (DL and NW) are dissimilar…Aircraft fleets being at the top of the list… (NW is largely an Airbus shop, DL a Boeing shop). In fact, the only aircraft both airlines fly is the Boeing 757.
Also, customer service policies were vastly different…WERE. DL is pushing it's "customer last, we're always right, no exceptions, don't argue or we'll have you detained by the feds" policy on everything from luggage straps to tickets on NW coded flights…they have the right to, they bought NW.
It's just a huge shame to see what had gone from what people use to call NorthWORST to a great airline be systematically screwed up by the Delta head dick, Dick Anderson. Yes, Dick use to run Northwest…but he departed MSP for ATL at the height of the time when NW meant NorthWORST.
Delta: FAIL.
