Northwest Airlines' chief executive said the company could benefit from the right kind of merger, according to a report by the Associated Press from Minneapolis. The statement came as the board of Delta Air Lines met to discuss that possibility. The AP said an internal memo to employees from Northwest Airlines chief Doug Steenland stated that his airline's board and leadership would carefully study any proposal. "The right transaction could be of benefit to our employees, our shareholders, and the communities we serve," he said. Sources cited by the AP said that "Delta's board was expected to be asked to allow formal talks between Delta and Northwest and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, with the idea that Delta would ultimately choose to combine with one of the two."
Controllers' union questions staffing
An insufficient number of veteran air traffic controllers means that a "staffing emergency" is eroding air and runway safety in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Southern California, the union representing the nation's 14,800 controllers told CNN.com. "The whole system is going to hell in a handbag, and it doesn't seem that anybody cares," Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told reporters, predicting that overworked controllers would make mistakes. An FAA spokeswoman disagreed with the union's assessment and described union statistics as "misleading."
Career-related news is updated weekly on AOPA Online.
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