Delta takes its time to get Northwest merger right
— -- Almost a year after Delta Air Lines announced it would buy Northwest Airlines and become the world's biggest carrier, fliers will soon start seeing the first outward signs that the two carriers are becoming one.
But for two major airlines that have operated separately for decades with different route structures, corporate cultures and passenger policies, the hard stuff — such as merging two giant and complex reservations systems — will not happen until next year, Delta executives say.
"When airlines merge, they have to think about legal issues, communications, maintenance, real estate and so on," says consultant Jerry Glass, the former human resources chief for US Airways, which merged with America West in 2005. "Every one of those has hundreds or thousands of details that must come together."
Today, the new Delta is a mammoth carrier, with about 6,000 daily departures and 1,000 aircraft at its disposal, including the Delta and Northwest fleets and both carriers' regional affiliates. Publicly, Delta is confident that months of planning by 25 integration teams will avoid mistakes other merging airlines have made, disrupting flights and alienating passengers. But the size of both carriers and the details involved in making them run as one make some bumps almost inevitable.
"It's been pretty much a nightmare for me," Northwest frequent flier Doreen Rosimos of Marlborough, N.H., says of her three recent Delta trips.
She says she bought tickets for the Delta flights on Northwest's website, www.nwa.com, but Delta had no record of the tickets when she arrived at the airport.
"I had to truck all the way down to the Northwest desk, get it fixed, then trek back to the Delta desk to get a Delta boarding pass," she says.
Others have had a smoother experience. Bruce Dickie, a Madison, Wis.-based sales representative and Northwest frequent flier, says he has "actually experienced a few positives."
"When flying on Delta, I now get an automatic upgrade to first class," he says.
Websites separate for now
Delta officials don't plan to fully merge the two airlines' websites and ticket reservations systems until next year, when they hope to qualify for a single airline operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. Likewise for separate operations control centers that currently direct both airlines' flights 24/7 from different parts of the country.
Airport ticket counters, gates and airport clubs won't be fully integrated until next year. Painters are busy replacing "Northwest" with "Delta" on Northwest jets; it will take many months to repaint and redecorate Northwest's jetliners, unify onboard menus and seatback safety cards, etc.
"What we don't want is people getting tangled up in a mishmash," says Tim Mapes, Delta's marketing chief.
The later deadlines for the hard stuff are deliberate. When US Airways and America West were completing their merger and converting to one reservations system in March 2007, the system crashed. Automated airport kiosks failed, delaying flights nationwide and frustrating customers. It's a type of failure Delta and Northwest want to avoid.
More capacity cuts likely
