"I Was Surprised As You Were"

It was a meeting intended to discuss measures to head off travel delays over the upcoming holiday season... but instead, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson spent most of his time before Congress Thursday downplaying recent reports of an imminent merger.

As ANN reported, on Wednesday news surfaced Delta and United Airlines were in negotiations to join forces as soon as possible. The resulting mega-airline would carry the United name, and be headquartered in Chicago, an unnamed source told The Associated Press. Delta's current headquarters in Atlanta, GA would be repurposed as an operations center, according to the report.

After refusing to comment throughout most of the day, late Wednesday evening executives at both Delta and United strongly denied the reports, saying in essence the source didn't know what he or she was talking about. Some suggested the rumor was a trial balloon sent up by an investment hedge fund with shares in both carriers.

"I haven't had a conversation, at all, with any executive since I came back to the airline industry," Anderson (right) told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Wednesday. "The last time I had a conversation with [United Chairman CEO Glenn F.] Tilton was at an [Air Transport Association] meeting three or four years ago."

The rumors have since subsided... though Georgia lawmakers, leery of the possibility Atlanta could lose one of its most prominent businesses if Delta was absorbed into another airline, still wanted reassurance Delta plans to stay put in the Peach State.

During Thursday's hearing before a House transportation subcommittee, Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland challenged Anderson to assure him "eyeball to eyeball" Delta was not involved in merger talks with United Airlines.

The Delta CEO didn't blink. "I was as surprised as you were," Anderson told Westmoreland. "There are no discussions. There have been no discussions."

Westmoreland -- once a Delta employee, along with his daughter and wife -- told Anderson "we don't want the family to move north... I'm asking you to keep the family informed."

Anderson said he would do so... adding he expects rumors of possible mergers to only increase in the coming weeks, the result of a push for increasing consolidation throughout the industry.

FMI: www.delta.com, http://westmoreland.house.gov/