But Only If It's Done Right

As the board of directors at Delta Air Lines remains silent about the result of last week's meeting to explore a potential merger with another carrier, the CEO of one of the most likely candidates says his airline could certainly benefit... if, that is, the deal is right.

Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland (right) told employees last week the carrier's board and management team would analyze any deal carefully before committing, reports The New York Times. (Um, we'd hope they would? -- Ed.)

"Most importantly, we will carefully consider the impacts on our own employees and ensure that the outstanding employees of Northwest Airlines are included in this process," Steenland wrote. "The right transaction could be of benefit to our employees, our shareholders and the communities we serve."

As ANN reported, Northwest and United Airlines are seen as the strongest candidates for a Delta-led merger, with most analysts favoring the former.

Last Friday's board meeting at Delta concerned allowing executives at the Atlanta-based carrier to enter into formal talks with both carriers. Numerous reports indicate Delta CEO Richard Anderson -- who also once held that position at Northwest -- received permission from the board to pursue talks, though none of the involved carriers are commenting publicly.

Steenland did not say whether Delta had approached his airline. While asserting Northwest is in a better position than most domestic carriers to remain profitable as a stand-alone entity, but added fuel prices have hit earlier profit projections hard.

The Northwest CEO -- who was recently elected chairman of the Air Transport Association -- also took pains to note Northwest can't control or predict what outside parties might do.

"Doing nothing could be our worst alternative," he said, according to the NYT. "If we wait to react to what others do we could be left with options that are undesirable or with no options at all... You can be sure that we are giving this very important issue the serious attention it deserves -- and that we will weigh carefully the strategic implications of each course of action available."

In other words... abandon all hope, ye who were hoping for a straight answer, here.

FMI: www.nwa.com, www.delta.com, www.united.com