The Super-Rad Airports/Airlines Thread

[JimInCal]

SLC, the stories were written by the same AP writer, Harry R. Weber, and published early this morning. I see they are very similar. They must take a news wire article and make some minor edits to fit the market.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by JimInCal

SLC, the stories were written by the same AP writer, Harry R. Weber, and published early this morning. I see they are very similar. They must take a news wire article and make some minor edits to fit the market.

True, oh well at least we were both on top of this story.

All in all I hope Delta doesn't sell out.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

True, oh well at least we were both on top of this story.

SLC, You are such the consumate Ambassador of good will.

Hey, I'm just looking for an excuse to harass you.

[delts145]

US Airways CEO asserts SLC flight hub would remain; pilots not so sure
By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune
Related
Delta takeover
Jan 11:
US Airways ups Delta takeover bid to $10.3BThe president of US Airways on Wednesday asserted again that the Delta Air Lines hub at Salt Lake City International Airport would survive his company's proposed merger with Delta with no loss of service or jobs.
"Some of the people saying that perhaps don't really understand airline and hub economics," said Scott Kirby in a telephone interview with The Salt Lake Tribune shortly after US Airways raised its hostile bid for Delta to $10.2 billion. "What matters is if there is a large enough local market, and there is a large enough local market in Salt Lake to support more than one hub."
Kirby also said Delta's large reservation call center in Salt Lake would continue because it's wise to have reservation centers in several places.
Delta has repeatedly disputed US Airways' pledge to continue the Salt Lake hub, even though it has a hub just 500 miles away in Phoenix, near its Tempe, Ariz., headquarters, as well as a large operation in Las Vegas. Bankrupt Delta - which employs 3,900 people in Salt Lake City including 580 pilots and 760 in its reservations center - had no immediate response to Kirby.
But Delta pilots said the sweetened bid increases the chances that the Salt Lake hub would disappear after the merger.
"No one familiar with the airline industry, outside of a couple of executives at US Airways, thinks that the Salt Lake hub would survive a hostile takeover," said Ed Thiel, a Salt Lake-based Delta pilot and member of the Air Line Pilots Association's Delta unit executive committee.
Kirby said the hubs in Utah and Arizona's capital cities would be "complementary instead of competitive," with Salt Lake routes emphasizing "northern tier" city destinations coast to coast and Phoenix routes centering on "southern tier" destinations.
"We will keep the Salt Lake hub in place for the same reasons that Delta has," Kirby said. "It's not altruism. It is a rational economic decision."
Kirby said there would be fewer aircraft flying in and out of Salt Lake after a merger. But the reduction would be in line with US Airways' previously stated plan to cut fleet capacity by 10 percent.
"Some downsizing is possible, though it would be minor downsizing. And it's important to note that we will serve every city that [the two airlines] currently serve in the United States" without raising fares, he said.
That means small markets like Bozeman, Mont.; Sun Valley, Idaho, and Cody, Wyo., currently served by SkyWest Airlines, which flies as Delta Connection for Delta, would continue to receive service, Kirby said.
"It's a positive for those cities," said Kirby. "We would now have a much larger [airline] network to feed customers into those cities."
Delta has said the merger would reduce service to Utah. It has said the two airlines have overlapping routes to 64 cities from Salt Lake, Phoenix and Las Vegas, underscoring its view that at least one hub would be unnecessary if the merger is approved by the bankruptcy court, federal regulators and, ultimately, Delta's unsecured creditors.
"We will lose aircraft and we will lose jobs, not to mention Salt Lake City as a hub probably would cease to exist," said Mike Dunn, a Salt Lake-based Delta pilot.

[delts145]

By Joshua Freed
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — No one knows if Northwest and Delta airlines will end up together, but the idea strikes some observers as sensible.
Recurring talks between the two carriers have taken place, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources. Both airlines declined to comment. Even if managers at the two bankrupt airlines make a deal, creditors would have to approve, too.
But observers pointed out that Delta Air Lines Inc.'s routes have less overlap with Northwest than with US Airways, which has proposed buying Delta. Northwest's domestic routes are concentrated in the Midwest and Asia, while Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, is strong in the South and East and over the Atlantic.
Less overlap could mean less resistance from antitrust regulators, said former Northwest board member and Northwest captain Mike Ristow.
"In terms of a global network, they come up with something more attractive" than a Delta-US Airways merger would, said Daniel Kasper, managing director of aviation consulting firm LECG in Cambridge, Mass. LECG has done bankruptcy work for both Delta and Northwest.
The idea of one bankrupt carrier merging with another might seem far-fetched. But bankruptcy allows airlines to slash expenses for things like aircraft leases, debt and workers. Among the older carriers that were around before deregulation, Delta and Northwest could end up as two of the healthier ones.
That means investors might be willing to put in new money, Kasper said.
It wouldn't be unreasonable for investors "to expect that the deal might be priced in a way that there would be some interesting upside potential coming out of it," he said. "I wouldn't have any trouble at all imagining money going into a deal like that."
Delta had rejected an offer from US Airways Group Inc., but US Airways raised its bid to $10.3 billion on Wednesday. Delta managers have said they want it to emerge as a standalone carrier.
Last month, Northwest Airlines Corp. disclosed that it had hired Evercore Partners to advise it on merger possibilities. At the time, Northwest Chief Executive Doug Steenland said it was hiring Evercore in case a merger proposal came along for Northwest.
"It remains our intention, and let me emphasize this, our intention to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of calendar year 2007 on a standalone, independent basis," Steenland said in a hot line message to employees on Dec. 11.
The intention to emerge as a standalone carrier was absent from a message to employees Wednesday in response to the Wall Street Journal story.
"Northwest intends to file its plan of reorganization in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy court prior to Jan. 16, 2007, and to emerge from Chapter 11 in the second quarter of 2007. Northwest is monitoring developments in the airline industry and is committed to acting in the best interest of all of its constituents," the message said.
Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski declined to comment on the difference between the two statements, or to comment on whether Northwest still intends to emerge as a standalone carrier.
Ristow said managers at Northwest and Delta talk to each other routinely about code-sharing and marketing partnerships.
"They don't talk about the competitive stuff because that's illegal, but they certainly have a real good idea of how each other operates, and whether they're compatible, and whether they make sense" as a merged operation, he said.
"It would be ridiculous to think that they haven't at least had some preliminary discussions."

[nbrindley]

i wouldn't think that this would be a great merger for SLC either. I don't know what other hubs Northwest has besides the twin cities, but it seems to me that considering Northwests existing routes, SLC as a hub could still be iffy. As I said before, I think US Airways should be pursuing Nowrthwest instead of Delta.

[Utaaah!]

Northwest's other hubs are in Memphis and Detriot - nowhere near SLC, which could still serve as a good western feeder to a merged Delta-Northwest route system.

[nbrindley]

yeah, i just noticed that firday evening on my way home from Conn. ( I was flying Northwest). If Delta-Northwest happened, Memphis would definitely get the shaft.

[JimInCal]

Delta to discuss US Airways' bid with board of directors
Associated Press
January 19, 2007

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to discuss US Airways' increased bid to buy Delta with its board of directors soon, the company said Friday as it filed an amended reorganization plan that details how it would satisfy claims against its subsidiary, Comair.

Beyond that statement, the nation's third largest carrier offered no new insight into the fate of a hostile bid by Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. to buy Delta in a deal valued at $10.1 billion.

Delta management has said repeatedly it opposes a merger with US Airways, but reiterated Friday it was obligated to review US Airways' increased offer, which was made Jan. 10. Its board rejected US Airways' initial offer, which was made Nov. 15.

The current offer is about 20 percent higher than the original.

"Delta's management and advisers are currently evaluating the revised US Airways proposal, in anticipation of making a further presentation to Delta's board of directors in the near future," Delta said in the filing.

Delta's amended reorganization plan calls for unsecured creditors of Comair to receive 76 percent to 100 percent of its allowed claims, among other things.

Atlanta-based Delta said general unsecured claims against Erlanger, Ky.-based Comair will be paid through the issuance of new Delta stock once Delta emerges from bankruptcy.

There are roughly $1.4 billion in unsecured claims against Comair, of which about $800 million is projected to be allowed claims, Delta said.

Secured and priority claims against Comair will be paid in full, Delta said. Securities litigation claims against Comair would receive no payment under Delta's reorganization plan.

Delta did not address the payment of claims against Comair when it initially filed its reorganization plan on Dec. 19.

Also new in its filing Friday was a notation that Delta no longer plans to offer creditors the right to buy stock in the new Delta at a certain price. Delta also revised slightly the amount of recovery that unsecured creditors against Delta will receive under its reorganization plan. They will now receive 62 percent to 78 percent of what they are owed, instead of 63 percent to 80 percent that Delta initially estimated.

Delta has estimated it will be worth $9.4 billion to $12 billion if it emerges from Chapter 11 by the middle of the year as a standalone company, which is its goal. That valuation did not change in the amended reorganization plan filed Friday.

A Feb. 7 bankruptcy court hearing in New York has been scheduled to discuss the disclosure statement to Delta's reorganization plan. If the statement, which includes details of Delta's operations, is approved, Delta could begin soliciting votes for approval of its reorganization plan.

US Airways is asking Delta's official creditors committee to support postponing that hearing. It has said that if that condition is not met by Feb. 1, along with several other conditions, it will revoke its bid for Delta. Delta's official creditors committee has so far been silent about its position on US Airways' revised offer.

I for one, really don't want the US Airways plan to succeed because of what it likely would mean to the West, specifically the Phoenix area loosing a major headquarters and Salt Lake City a hub.

[SLC Projects]

Don't give in Delta.

[delts145]

Utah cities fight Delta takeover

By Amelia Nielson-Stowell
Deseret Morning News
City councils across Utah are voicing their opposition to a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways to control bankrupt Delta Air Lines.
Delta, which uses the Salt Lake City International Airport as one of its main hubs, has been resisting merger attempts. To date, six Salt Lake County cities have signed resolutions against the US Airways proposal.
The resolutions have been sent to both airlines, said Dennis Tenney, Sandy City Council chairman, who is spearheading the effort. He said he hopes it sends a message to regulators in Washington, D.C.
"Delta Air Lines has created thousands of jobs for Utahns throughout the state, and a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways could very well spell the end of hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in lost revenues to our citizens," he said. "This is a Utah issue and it's a bread-and-butter issue to Utahns everywhere who travel by air."
He added that it would negatively affect tourism and have a "ripple effect throughout the Utah economy."
To date, Salt Lake City, Sandy, Draper, South Salt Lake, Murray, South Jordan and West Valley City have all signed resolutions. They ask for a "thorough review by federal officials" of the proposed merger and note that Delta "is on track to exit bankruptcy in 2007." The carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2005.
In the next several weeks, Tenney said more cities along the Wasatch Front and in southern Utah are expected to pass similar resolutions.
"This has national implications as well because it sends a very negative message. The message that should be sent is competition is good and healthy and benefits everyone," he said. "This action flies in the face of competition and we the consumers and travelers and beneficiaries of the tourism industry, we're all losers if this hostile merger takes place."

[delts145]

Delta now seeks flights to Shanghai

Associated Press

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc. embarked Friday on an effort to get U.S. government approval to launch nonstop flights between Atlanta and China.
It filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which recently awarded UAL Corp.'s United Airlines a Washington to Beijing route.
Delta wants to offer nonstop flights between its main hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and China's commercial and financial capital of Shanghai. In the filing, it proposed to launch the daily flights beginning March 25, 2008.
The DOT evaluates U.S. proposals for new service to China as part of an agreement signed in 2004 that called for a total of 195 new weekly flights phased in over a six-year period.
Atlanta-based Delta is the third-largest carrier in the U.S.

[delts145]

Delta workers flay US Airways

5 Utahns join protest in D.C. against the hostile takeover bid

By Suzanne Struglinski
Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — More than 150 Delta employees — including five pilots from Utah — made their strong opposition to a potential takeover by US Airways clear Tuesday in front of the U.S. Capitol.


Jamie Rose, Getty Images
On Capitol Hill, current and retired Delta personnel protest a potential takeover of the company.

Using the mantra "Keep Delta My Delta," the group lobbied lawmakers in anticipation of a hearing on airline mergers today in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Delta Chief Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein and US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker both are scheduled to testify.
Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, has a plan to come out of bankruptcy later this year, but US Airways has put in a hostile takeover bid for Delta. Delta repeatedly has said it is not interested in the merger.
"We don't need Doug Parker, we don't want Doug Parker," said Lee Moak, chairman of Delta's Air Line Pilots Association. "We are going to emerge as Doug Parker's worst nightmare."
The crowd carried signs showing the Delta and US Airways logos in a circle with a slash through it. Moak said Delta is committed to coming out of bankruptcy as a stand-alone carrier and accused US Airways of trying to gobble up the competition.
"We are not on board for a hostile takeover of our company," Moak said. "Delta is not for sale."
Delta pilot Mark Saltzman of Sandy has been in Washington for the past few days visiting lawmakers offices to explain what the merger would mean. He and the other employees-turned-lobbyists come armed with a flight path map showing what the combination of the two companies would look like.
Saltzman points to the US Airways hubs that already exist in Las Vegas and Phoenix, which may make another Western hub in Salt Lake City less attractive, forcing 5,500 Delta employees out of work.
"We want to make sure they have all the facts and that the truth comes out," said Saltzman, who is the incoming chair of Council 81 of the Air Line Pilots Association. "Nobody wants this."
US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said the Salt Lake hub is not under threat if the deal goes through.
"We have reiterated that countless times that the hub would not go way," Gee said.
The bid for Delta is still active, Gee said, but there is a Feb. 1 deadline for some action, or it will be off the table.
"We understand that there are some mixed emotions from the Delta employees, but we haven't felt it was appropriate to communicate with the employees yet," Gee said. "We are still in the early stages of this."
Beyond the perceived threat of potentially losing the hub in Salt Lake City, Saltzman said there are anti-trust issues at stake. If US Airways took over Delta routes, it would create a company with a large chunk of the flying market.
Ed Thiel, the current chairman of the local pilots union, said it was "critical" for the Delta employees to be there.
"Do you want national aviation policy made by Wall Street or Congress," Thiel said, which is one of the main points he is telling Congress members.
The Delta supporters delivered a petition to senators with 104,851 signatures opposing the merger, including 5,353 from Utah.

[delts145]

Will bid for Delta go up?

'We're always willing to talk,' says US Airways CEO Parker

By Harry R. Weber
Associated Press

ATLANTA — US Airways Group Inc. Chief Executive Doug Parker was noncommittal Tuesday on whether his company would be willing to increase its bid to buy Delta Air Lines Inc. even further to appease Delta's creditors.
"It's not a yes," Parker said when asked by The Associated Press if the airline, based in Tempe, Ariz., would again increase its offer, currently valued at $9.8 billion.
But, he quickly added, "We're always willing to talk to people."
Parker said Delta's official committee of unsecured creditors, which will play a key role in deciding whether any merger agreement would move forward, has not indicated that it wants US Airways to offer more money.
In fact, Parker said he is in the dark about what the creditors committee is thinking. The committee has not issued a statement about its position since US Airways increased its offer for Delta nearly 20 percent on Jan. 10.
"There's been no negotiating whatsoever," Parker said. "No one has come back to us and said we should increase our offer."
A Feb. 7 bankruptcy court hearing in New York has been scheduled to discuss the disclosure statement to Delta's reorganization plan, which calls for the Atlanta-based airline to emerge from Chapter 11 by the middle of this year as a standalone carrier. If the statement, which includes details of Delta's operations, is approved, Delta could begin soliciting votes for approval of its reorganization plan.
US Airways is asking Delta's official creditors committee to support postponing that hearing. It has said that if that condition is not met by Feb. 1, along with several other conditions, it will revoke its bid for Delta.
Parker said Tuesday that US Airways made that point to the creditors committee as recently as last week that time is running out for action by the committee.
"We made it crystal clear, if there is no action by Feb. 1, then our offer is withdrawn," Parker said. "They fully understand that now. We're dead serious about the deadline."
Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that US Airways' bid is losing traction among Delta's creditors, and that the creditors committee has grown skeptical of the proposed merger. A lawyer for the committee, Daniel Golden, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday from the Associated Press.
The committee usually meets on Wednesdays and could have a statement about its position soon.
Delta's board, meanwhile, could vote on US Airways' most recent offer this week.
While Delta has opposed a merger with US Airways and Delta's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, has said in the past he doesn't believe airline consolidation is the wave of the future, he said in a newsletter sent to employees Tuesday that a merger can't be ruled out for Delta after it exits bankruptcy.
Grinstein said Delta's board will make decisions about the airline's future after it exits bankruptcy as a standalone company.
"This could include a merger," Grinstein said. "If it does, it would be the right merger — one that is not anti-competitive; one that does not shrink and weaken Delta, reverse our progress, or penalize our people; and one that provides long-term value for our many stakeholders."
Parker, meanwhile, said he has no insight on the validity of the rumors and speculation swirling about the fate of his airline's bid for Delta.
"It is what it is," Parker said. "Right now, we're just reacting to rumors. But no one has told us our proposal they're not happy with, and no one has asked us to increase it."
US Airways shares fell $3.76, or 6.6 percent, to close at $53.27 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

[delts145]

Senate gets anti-Delta merger petitions
By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune

Petitions with more than 100,000 signatures opposing US Airways' hostile bid for Delta Air Lines were delivered to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, ahead of a Senate hearing today on airline mergers.
The signatures included names of 5,353 Utahns who said the merger will hurt travelers, small communities, businesses and Delta employees, according to Keep Delta My Delta, an employee-led campaign supporting the airline's exit from bankruptcy as an independent company.
People signing their names were pilots and other employees, retirees and elected officials, the group said.
The 104,851 signatures were handed to the senators by Delta employees after a rally outside the Capitol.
"Obviously I haven't seen the [US Airways] proposal. But it seems fairly obvious that [a merger] could have a harmful effect on Delta's Salt Lake City hub," Sen. Orrin Hatch said.
In addition to the signatures, more than 155,000 letters have been sent to members of Congress and the Bush administration.
A US Airways spokesman acknowledged widespread opposition among Delta employees to the merger, but said many workers have based their opposition on faulty information.
"We know that there is misinformation out there. We are not going to communicate directly with [Delta] employees at this time. So the information they get is primarily one-sided,"

[delts145]

Senators voice fears of service cutbacks
US Airways chief defends deal as good for consumers
By Alan Zibel


The Associated Press



Delta Air Lines pilots line the room Wednesday during a Senate... (Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News)


DOUG PARKER, chief executive of US Airways, argued that the merger would lead to lower prices for consumers because the company would be in a better position to compete with low-cost carriers. He urged lawmakers to ''let the market work.'' (Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News)


GERALD GRINSTEIN, chief executive of Delta, called US Airways' hostile bid ''blatantly anti-competitive,'' and a ''poster child of the worst kind of merger,'' estimating that 10,000 jobs could be eliminated. (Jay Mallin/Bloomberg News)

The chief executive of US Airways Group Inc. faced tough questioning at a Senate hearing Wednesday as lawmakers fretted that his company's proposed hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines Inc. would harm consumers, particularly those in rural areas.
Doug Parker, chief executive of US Airways, argued that the nearly $10 billion acquisition of Delta would result in an efficiently run carrier that could offer low fares to fliers. He urged lawmakers to ''let the market work.''
Several senators said their constituents are concerned that a merger would result in cutbacks to service in small communities, where the per-unit costs of running an airline tend to be more expensive than in big cities with lots of passenger traffic.
''You're an aggressive suitor, but the lady from the South doesn't want to be forced into this shotgun wedding,'' said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss, a reference to Delta's Atlanta headquarters.
On Jan. 10, US Airways increased its bid for Delta by nearly 20 percent, but Delta's CEO remains cool to the offer.
Delta's official committee of unsecured creditors, which will play a key role in deciding whether any merger agreement would move forward, has not issued a statement about its position since US Airways increased its offer. The committee is said to be skeptical after digging into details of of the deal,

The Wall Street Journal reported this week.
''The surest, safest bet from the creditors' point of view is to go ahead with our stand-alone business plan,'' Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein told reporters Wednesday.
Grinstein, in testimony before the committee, called US Airways' hostile bid ''blatantly anti-competitive,'' and a ''poster child of the worst kind of merger,'' estimating that 10,000 jobs could be eliminated. Parker disputed that figure, saying any job losses would be gradual and through attrition, rather than layoffs.
Despite his opposition to US Airways' offer, Grinstein said in a newsletter sent to employees Tuesday that a merger can't be ruled out for Delta after it exits bankruptcy. Grinstein also said Delta is ''not negotiating'' a merger with Northwest Airlines, denying reports in The Journal.
Parker, who led America West Airlines' 2005 merger with US Airways, argued that the merger would lead to lower prices for consumers because the company would be in a better position to compete with low-cost carriers such as JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines. The growth of those competitors he said, shows the ''tendency of the marketplace to respond.''
''New carriers can come in and lower prices,'' Parker said.
Both airline executives said the industry has made important strides toward rebounding from the financial troubles that arose as result of the 2001 terrorist attacks and soaring fuel prices.
Delta is planning to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by midyear as an independent company, and is planning for a Feb. 7 bankruptcy court hearing in New York to discuss the details of its bankruptcy exit plan. US Airways has said it will revoke its takeover bid if Delta's creditors do not postpone that hearing by Feb. 1.
More than 30 uniformed Delta pilots packed the Senate hearing room Wednesday to show their opposition to the merger, which they said would lead to job reductions.
''We are not against mergers, we are not against consolidation. What we are opposed to is this merger,'' said Robert Hazzard, a Delta pilot and spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association International.

Key dates

* Delta Air Lines is planning to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by midyear as an independent company.
* Delta is planning for a Feb. 7 bankruptcy court hearing in New York to discuss the details of its bankruptcy exit plan.
* US Airways has said it will revoke its takeover bid if Delta's creditors do not postpone that hearing by Feb. 1.

[delts145]

S.L. County cities oppose Delta merger
By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune

A chorus of support for Delta Air Lines is rising across Salt Lake County, although a few elected officials are singing a slightly different tune.
Eight cities, from Salt Lake City to Bluffdale, have passed resolutions opposing US Airways' hostile bid for Delta, which hopes to emerge from bankruptcy this year as a stand-alone air carrier.
Although the cities have no authority over the possible merger, they hope Congress or the U.S. Department of Justice will step in to block US Airways' bid if it violates antitrust laws.
"A hostile takeover - without any question - would have a huge impact on Utahns," said Sandy Councilman Dennis Tenney. "There is a need for a strong, united voice from municipalities as the representatives of our taxpayers."
Tenney and other opponents of US Airways bid worry that the merger could diminish or eliminate Salt Lake City International Airport's status as a Delta hub and spell layoffs for some of the airline's 3,900 Utah employees.
Tenney has forwarded copies of Sandy's resolution, which passed last week, to a number of Salt Lake County cities - and to St. George, Cedar City, Ogden and Bountiful.
South Salt Lake was scheduled to vote on a resolution Wednesday night. West Jordan, Taylorsville, Midvale and Riverton have said they will consider taking up the issue. And members of the Salt Lake County Council plan to conduct public hearings on the matter.
Still, some civic leaders have wondered if it's their place to weigh in on the business dealings of national corporations.
Bill Maxwell was the only member of the Bluffdale City Council on Tuesday night to vote against a resolution opposing the hostile takeover.
"I understand we're trying to get community support, but it's a business matter that the government shouldn't be involved in. That's just my personal opinion," Maxwell said Wednesday. "I appreciate Delta and hope the situation works itself out."
At the request of fellow council members, Jerry Rechtenbach, chair of Taylorsville City Council, has asked that a resolution supporting Delta be placed on an agenda next month. But he says he has "mixed emotions" about the issue.
Although Sandy's resolution touts "Delta's safe and reliable air transportation, distinctive customer service and hospitality from the heart," Rechtenbach is not a huge fan of the air carrier.
"Delta Air Lines, in my view has not been particularly passenger-friendly or customer-friendly. They don't necessarily fly on time and they have a history of canceling flights" that aren't expected to make money, Rechtenbach said.
"Any other company has to live or die by its own mismanagement."
rwinters@sltrib.com
---
* Tribune reporter STEVE GEHRKE contributed to this story.

No to takeover

Salt Lake County cities whose governmental bodies oppose a hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines:
* Salt Lake City
* West Valley City
* Murray
* Cottonwood
Heights
* Sandy
* Draper
* South Jordan
* Bluffdale

[delts145]

By Suzanne Struglinski
Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — The potential merger of US Airways and Delta Air Lines concerns Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, according to a letter he sent to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Thursday.
Hatch and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., urged the Justice Department to "carefully and thoroughly consider the substantial competitive impact of this merger" should it get to the point of being reviewed."
"From what we are able to glean from publicly available information, there appears to be even more overlap between the US Airways and Delta route networks," Hatch and Kohl wrote. "These two airlines are strong domestic competitors in the East and Mountain West. Their merger would appear to result in a significant increase in concentration — especially on routes serving smaller communities — and could adversely affect Delta's hubs, as well as lead to a reduction in capacity and higher overall fares."
Delta has a hub at the Salt Lake City International Airport that some Delta employees fear would close under a merger, although US Airways has said it would do no such thing.
The senators said their letter does not "express a firm position on a potential transaction" but that they felt the need to "underscore our firm expectation that the Department will investigate this or any other merger among airlines of all sizes with all due care and vigor."
Kohl is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights where Hatch is the top Republican.

[delts145]

L.A., others object to Delta disclosure

They say plan gives airline undue authority

By Harry R. Weber
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The city of Los Angeles said in a bankruptcy court filing Thursday that Delta Air Lines Inc.'s reorganization plan can't be approved because of undue authority it gives the company to reject certain leases.
The city made the comments in an objection to the disclosure statement to Delta's reorganization plan. Denver, Palm Beach County, Fla., and the operator of a Puerto Rico airport also objected, as did an ad hoc committee of creditors; and some banks. Thursday was the objection deadline.
If the disclosure statement, which details Delta's operations, is still approved after a hearing scheduled for Feb. 7, the Atlanta-based company, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, would be permitted to begin soliciting votes to approve its reorganization plan calling for it to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone carrier.
The city of Los Angeles said that Delta's disclosure statement is accompanied by a reorganization plan that is "not confirmable as a matter of law and, thus, should not be approved because proceeding with a solicitation of the plan in its present form would waste valuable judicial and estate resources."
The city owns Los Angeles International Airport and Ontario (Calif.) International Airport, where Delta conducts operations and maintains leases.
The city said in its filing that Delta's disclosure statement fails to describe the potential impact that termination of its Terminal 5 lease at Los Angeles International Airport would have on the company's operations and financial performance. The filing said that the city is seeking, subject to court approval, to terminate the lease.
Without the information, creditors, like the city of Los Angeles, can't accurately evaluate the feasibility of Delta's reorganization plan, the objection says.
The objection by Los Angeles came on the same day Delta featured on its Web site its expanded service to and from Los Angeles International Airport. "Here you come, there you go. More flights than ever in and out of Los Angeles," Delta said on the Web site.
The city of Los Angeles also said in its filing that Delta's reorganization plan improperly gives Delta broad discretion to defer the effectiveness of its decisions to assume or reject certain unexpired leases and contracts beyond the effective date of the plan.
Delta spokesman Michael Freitag described the objection as a "classic issue that comes up in every Chapter 11 case."
"Are they objecting to the reorganization plan and disguising it as an objection to the disclosure statement?" Freitag said. "That's an issue that the lawyers will have to address at the hearing."
Only the disclosure statement is at issue currently. A separate hearing would be held to approve the reorganization plan.
"We believe the disclosure statement meets the appropriate standards for adequacy under the bankruptcy code, and we're confident any objections to the disclosure statement will be resolved in a manner that allows Delta to remain on schedule to emerge from Chapter 11 in spring 2007," Freitag said.
Also Thursday, the city and county of Denver filed a limited objection to Delta's disclosure statement. In court papers, Denver said provisions of the disclosure statement and reorganization plan concerning interest on tax claims violate the bankruptcy code, thus making Delta's reorganization plan "unconfirmable."
Denver said Delta's reorganization plan and disclosure statement appear to limit Denver's ability to collect interest, penalties and fees on administrative tax claims incurred by Delta since it filed for bankruptcy.
Denver is asking that Delta's request for approval of its disclosure statement be denied.
Palm Beach County, Fla., and the operator of Orlando, Fla., International Airport filed a request to join the objections filed by Los Angeles and Denver. Separately, the operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, located in Carolina, Puerto Rico, filed a limited objection to Delta's disclosure statement. The Bank of New York, Wells Fargo Bank Northwest N.A. and an ad hoc committee of creditors also filed objections.
Delta first filed its reorganization plan and disclosure statement on Dec. 19, and then amended it on Jan. 19.
Delta has estimated the company will be worth $9.4 billion to $12 billion if it emerges from Chapter 11 by the middle of the year as a standalone company, which is its goal.
US Airways Group Inc., based in Tempe, Ariz., continues to push a hostile bid to buy Delta. It has asked Delta's official creditors committee to support postponing the Feb. 7 bankruptcy hearing. It has said that if that condition is not met by Feb. 1, along with several other conditions, it will withdraw its bid for Delta. Delta's official creditors committee has so far been silent about its position on US Airways' revised offer.

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Associated Press

PHOENIX — US Airways Group Inc. on Monday denied reports it offered to add $1 billion in cash to its $9.87 billion cash-and-stock bid for Delta Air Lines Inc. in order to win support from its creditors.
"We have not raised our bid," US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said. "The previous offer is still on the table and is set to expire Feb. 1."
The Wall Street Journal had reported that US Airways, based in Tempe, Ariz., would raise its bid if Delta's creditors, who have the most say in the bankruptcy-protected airline's fate, agreed to postpone a Feb. 7 hearing on restructuring the carrier.
Gee said that report was false. He added the airline couldn't officially change its offer unless its governing board approved it, which it hasn't, and the Securities and Exchange Commission was notified.
US Airways has been seeking postponement of the reorganization hearing, and has threatened to withdraw its bid if the hearing isn't delayed by Thursday.
In November, US Airways Group Inc. launched a hostile takeover effort to buy Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., which is under bankruptcy court protection from creditors. A committee representing creditors hasn't said anything publicly since US Airways sweetened its offer earlier this month.
Previously, the committee supported letting Delta reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy protection as a stand-alone company.