Delta Northwest Merger To Create Largest Airline Carrier

Both companies would combine airlines to create the largest carrier the world.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. and Northwest Airlines will finalize a merger agreement within days to create the world's largest airline, according to an insider familiar with the situation.

Delta's CEO Richard Anderson met with Northwest's CEO Doug Steenland in Minneapolis on Sunday to discuss the merger plans in private.

Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier by traffic, is committed to push forward with the agreement even without support from its 7,000 pilots. A deal could be announced as early as Monday.

Both airlines, which had previous talks that fizzled out in March, still must finalize significant details on the timing and terms of the merger agreement.

In March, the pilots' unions for Delta and Northwest failed to agree on how seniority would apply for their roughly 12,000 members in a combined carrier. Pilot seniority is critical because it helps determine pay, work schedules and the size of aircraft they fly.

Pilots at Northwest, the second largest airline, will support a merger with another airline company if the workers received a stake in the combined carrier.

Under the potential terms of the merger, Delta's CEO Richard Anderson will run the combined airline carrier under the Delta name from its headquarters in Atlanta.

The merged airline would benefit from Delta's trans-Atlantic routes to Europe and its Latin American network, plus Eagan, Minnesota-based Northwest's Pacific routes, including access to Tokyo's Narita Airport.