As CEO of Northwest Airlines from October 2004 through October 2008, Doug Steenland oversaw a carrier that embraced new distribution technologies and helped change the economic model to the benefit of airlines. Effective this week, he's sitting on the board of Travelport, a GDS operator that presumably would prefer to forestall another round of upheaval.
The merger of Delta and Northwest is sure confusing if you are flying on a Northwest flight. I just flew from Denver to Memphis. Because I am in the industry I knew this has always been a Northwest flight. (I know very little else about the airline industry, but I do know where hubs are and who flies where.) My ticket said Delta.
Just one in five buyer members of the National Business Travel Association see domestic airline consolidation as a "positive development for the business travel community," according to an NBTA poll of 207 conducted during the first quarter. Twice as many thought consolidation between U.S. airlines and foreign carriers would be positive.
Download more survey details here.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have engaged their pilots unions in discussions on the seemingly imminent merger proposal between the two airlines,
according to published reports. That's probably a good idea.
