Delta Northwest Merger Talk

        The new consortium of neighborhood outreach groups, lobbyists, oversight committees and pissed off pilot unions have all begun to take their stances on the proposed merger.  The new airline, which is to be called Delta, has called in ex-pol Trent Lott among others as part of their coalition to push this thing through and make it a reality.  Industry experts and airline officials have said it will take a minimum 8 months to finalize the complex deal.  Yes, I believe this merger will be good for the consumer.  More non-stops, more hubs makes consolidation key for Delta-Northwest fliers.  Also I believe this is an important step towards modernizing the top heavy domestic airline industry.  Instead of having to regulate several large domestic airlines, in pure Darwinian style, the industry is moving closer towards an only the strong survive mentality.  As we have seen firsthand with the recent demise of such airlines as Frontier,  among others, the 80's-90's influx of airlines have done their good and now it is time to move on.  What code sharing did in the 90's, consolidation will do in the future.  Air congestion is a hot topic now, but the logic of the mid 90's move towards leasing regional planes to solve route issues has not helped the situation.  Larger airlines with more routes and a more centralized control over coordinating schedules will be a boon for the industry that has ended half of it's two front war with the consumer and is facing the continuing threat of ever increasing jet fuel prices.  The idiom too many cooks in the kitchen comes to mind. Look at any European country and their respective airlines.  Par example; Air France-KLM widely heralded as one of the most successful and financially stable airlines in the world competes with only a couple low cost airlines in which only 1(I believe) is based in France.  Whereas in the US, there are arguably 7 domestic airlines with considerable market share, with many other local and regional airlines.  Plus the perks for me being a Delta Sky miler are looking more and more plus side as time passes. Who knows though?

The Road to Somewhere Shady

NYT Editorial Board must be reading the The Likely Lad or perhaps a coincidence. As published in April 21,2008 NYTimes:

'The Senate has taken the unusual step of proposing that the Justice Department begin a criminal investigation of a long-running Congressional embarrassment known as the Coconut Road earmark. At issue is who slipped the $10 million boondoggle back into the transportation budget after it had been rejected by Congress. '

Read my post on this here. Quinn has brushed her aforementioned mistakes aside, somewhat. This Don Young character though should really burn at the stake for this though.