The on-again, off-again merger between United Airlines and US Airways may be off for now, but the two airlines are together at last — at the top of the Transportation Department’s list of most complained-about airlines.
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merger
Just when air travelers thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have. The competition to create the world’s worst airline is heating up, and the losers have already been decided. We are the losers.
Whether it’s Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines standing at the altar, assuring us their proposed merger would be a “win-win”, or the Transportation Department symbolically bumping up the compensation for bumped passengers, we travelers have been promised a lot this week. But will any of it really improve the travel experience? I doubt it. Read this week’s issue and then decide for yourself.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have finally announced their merger this evening. No big surprises in the news release. We knew the Northwest name would be retired, and we knew how this would be spun.
Even if you aren’t a know-it-all frequent business traveler or a smug aviation industry insider, you’ve probably come across the term “fortress hub.” It’s an airport dominated by a single airline that controls more than 70 percent of flights. Dallas/Fort Worth is an American Airlines fortress hub, for example. In Atlanta, it’s Delta Air Lines and in Charlotte, it’s US Airways.
It’s Thursday, and there’s still no announcement that Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines will merge. Frustrating for shareholders and airline beat reporters? Yes. But a Godsend for air travelers, who would almost certainly benefit from a more competitive airline industry.
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