So we get screwed again...

KSTP.com - Obstacles remain to merger:

"The takeover announced Monday calls for the combined airline to be named Delta, remain based in Atlanta, and be run by Delta CEO Richard Anderson."

So under the 'new' name, I would suppose it will null & void all the agreements that NorthWest currently has with MN for all the tax breaks they got, all the variences given to them, the dedication of a terminal JUST for them (there is a second terminal for all the other flights) .... one of the biggest things they promised was to build a major business hub in Duluth - or was it a major mechanics shop - either way they were supposed to build a big part of their business up there to boost the economy in Northern MN.
This was one of the big things that Jesse ran on ... wondering where the heck it was; every governor has been kept at bay with threats from NW to pull out if they had to spend the money on doing what they promised to do -- and now? We will never see it .... I just want to know who the idiot was that negotiated this deal!
Well we will have to see what the unions have to say about all this - because by the sounds of it, they are the ones getting the short end of the stick. Delta basically settled with their unions already and 'screwed over' the NW pilots who are worried about their jobs ... as it stands now, my understanding from news reports, is that routes/schedules/planes are based on senority -the more senority the sweeter the deal- but if Delta doesn't agree then MN pilots lose this agreement and (from what I've heard) will get put into a lottery type of system.

Then there are the mechanics & flight attendants ... what happens with their contracts?

I know families where both incomes come from NW, the same way as families that were hit by the Ford plant closing, who could be thrown for a total economic meltdown if the merger takes place. I've already seen one family who had to split because of the union contracts his job had been moved to Chicago while hers stayed here in MN ... they were fairly newly married and they had a really rough time - not so much when they were apart, its easy to get used to being by yourself and living the way you want, but rather when they got back together in one city or the other because they had to get 'used' to one another again.

She has decided to get training in another field now because she has gotten to the point of working out the 'what-ifs' of it all ... so they will have at least a 'livable' wage if he ends up losing all his senority in this deal.

And by the sounds of it, owners of Delta stock got the sweeter deal while owners of NW stock took a bit of a hit -- I do believe the union deals are tied into the stocks as well.

The only way this can get blocked now is if the Unions step up to the plate for the employees -- yes I know, I am not a big 'union person' but if they don't do something, the members in MN will be screwed over big time .... as well as the MN economy which is already hurting!