You know - repainting, uniforms, cola...the list is endless. (And then there's seniority lists, balance sheets, fleet plans...)With Northwest and Delta the cola is a particularly knotty problem. What with Delta being in Coca Cola's hometown and all. Should be a shoo-in, but not so, because Northwest carries, yup, Pepsi. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains.
The painting task is horrendous. I've talked about it before, but Delta now says it's on top of the situation - and in fact making terrific progress.
With uniforms, the decision is simple: wear Delta or ship out. But for a few more days flight attendants are being allowed to wear vintage uniforms of any carrier in history that's been subsumed into the great Delta/Northwest happy(?) family. Like these for example.
on March 26, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply
Well the companies may have merged, but the pilots groups have not. Our Southern cousins have not seen fit to allow us to blend in and build reationships at union and line level. The call us "Delta North"!! The are "Delta South". We are being treated like red-headed step children. I miss the Northwest atmosphere already. So much for a fraternity of pilots. The Mason Dixon line lives!
on March 30, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply
Hard to be optimistic about integration of the pilots' groups - history shows that the poison lingers for an awful long time later. See America West/ US Airways and American / TWA for distressing precedents.
Hopefully the lessons get learned and things get better - but no such thing as a painless merger in any sector.
Here are those uniforms BTW: http://blog.delta.com/2009/03/27/vintage-uniforms-flying-again/
on April 13, 2009 2:47 AM | Reply
On my recent Northwest and Delta flights, I didn't notice new uniforms, but I did notice complimentary peanuts! While that harkens back to earlier days of air travel for me, I'd rather have a complimentary checked bag! In my mind, air travel means needing "stuff" at the other end. Either I'm bringing on a huge carry-on, or I'm paying a surcharge to have it checked.
The complimentary peanuts did not prevent my luggage from not arriving at my destination with me. I still paid to check my bag but I had to wait until the next day for my suitcase to catch up with me.