Air France welcomes Delta-Northwest merger

Air France-KLM welcomed the announcement that Delta Air Lines and Northwest have decided to merge their operations, thus forming the world’s largest airline. Air France and Delta are both part of the SkyTeam alliance and therefore have a long history of cooperation, while KLM has been working together with Northwest for years; the Dutch carrier’s American partner provides online booking services for all KLM flights departing from North American airports. Air France observed that the announced merger would serve to “further strengthen the coherence of their partnership” when it comes to transatlantic routes.

Air France-KLM has also indicated that it would like to establish a “global partnership” with the newly merged Delta and Northwest. Yet one thing that Air France is apparently not planning on doing in the near future is investing in the newly minted American airline. Earlier this year, the Franco-Dutch carrier had suggested that it would be interested in purchasing a stake in Delta, if it merges with Northwest. This, however, seems unlikely at the moment, as Air France executives noted in a press release that the two airlines enjoy a good level of liquidity and that it will “no longer require additional funding.”

The Delta-Northwest merger is the US airline industry’s way of dealing with record high fuel prices. Representatives of the two carriers, however, observed that the fusion would also benefit passengers, in that they will have improved access to international routes. Under the terms of the agreement, the new carrier will be called Delta. The airline would control a fleet of more than 800 airplanes and would employ 75,000 people. Although the two carriers now seem set to merge, they may still run into obstacles from pilots unions, as well as from federal regulators who must first approve the deal.

www.airfrance.com