Delta CEO: SLC Keeps Hub and Jobs After Merger

Apr 18, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson assured city and state leaders this morning [Friday] during a visit to Salt Lake City that the airport will remain an important Western hub after the merger with Northwest Airlines. Anderson also soothed concerns about layoffs.

"Salt Lake has very strong local traffic base and is really the western node on the network of the combination of Delta and Northwest," Anderson says. "Our employees - there are no furloughs of frontline employees as a result of this transaction. And there are no hub closures as a result of this transaction."

While Governor Jon Huntsman hopes the merger will open up additional international flights, Anderson says the airlines will not be able to determine whether this is actually feasible until after the merger is approved. That process is expected to take about 8 months. Meanwhile, Anderson says that the cost of flying could go up. This isn't because of the merger, he says, rather it is the increasing cost of fuel. The Delta CEO says the merger will make the industry more viable in the face of significant economic losses and increasing competition from foreign airlines.

"We aught to be given a fighting chance. We aught to be given an opportunity to compete against foreign flag carriers who are much larger - who have consolidated - and in an open skies environment, be given the opportunity to build a strong, durable airline business," Anderson says. "That is in consumers' best interest, employees' best interest and the best interest of the communities."

The airline industry has lost $30 billion and 150,000 jobs between 2001 and 2007. Five airlines have filed bankruptcy since the beginning of the year. Anderson says it is important for consumers and the economy for the industry to remain viable. And, he argues, the merger will help the combined Delta and Northwest airline stay competitive.

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