'We're just getting started': Delta celebrates Northwest Airlines merger 10 years later

Delta Air Lines on Monday celebrated the 10th anniversary of its acquisition of Northwest Airlines with a party in a hangar at the Twin Cities airport. Atlanta-based Delta paid $2.6 billion for the airline long synonymous with Minnesota.

During a live video appearance from the company's Atlanta headquarters, Delta CEO Ed Bastian recalled there was a lot of concern and doubt about the merger, which came during the Great Recession — and much turmoil in the airline industry. Both Delta and Northwest had just come out of bankruptcy.

That was then, Bastian said.

"We've arguably created the most successful airline in the globe. Our operations run like no airline has ever run in history. And the cool thing about all of that: We're just getting started," he said.

Toby Broberg, Delta's vice president of Minneapolis-St. Paul operations agreed. Ten years ago, she was working in customer care for Northwest. In a post-event interview, Broberg said it's amazing to see how the airlines — and their employees — came together.

"We were able to take the best of Northwest, which is really the operational excellence, combined with the Delta spirt and culture together," she said.

Broberg said the number of nonstop destinations and daily departures from the Twin Cities are as good or better than they were with Northwest. Delta has announced plans for new nonstop service to Seoul, South Korea, and wants to add service between the Twin Cities and Shanghai, China. Broberg said the merger has added value to the Twin Cities hub.

"We are a stronger hub here in Minneapolis than we were 10 years ago. We're still the second largest hub in the Delta network," she said.

Delta said it has about 12,000 employees in the Twin Cities, counting its regional carriers. That's about how many Northwest had at the time of the merger.

Delta employees aren't the only ones touting the merger's success. It's worked out well said William Swelbar, a research engineer in MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.

"Delta still is the bellwether out there that the rest of the industry is compared to each day, whether it be financial performance, operational performance, employee relations," he said.

To be sure, employee relations have not been as contentious and bitter as they so often were with Northwest. Swelbar points out that, other than the pilots, Delta employees have rejected union representation.

"They're clearly happy being unrepresented and obviously management is doing a very good job," he said.

Many members of the state's business community also praise the merger.

Nonstop flights Delta offers to Europe and Asia are greatly valued, said Kathleen Motzenbecker, a senior vice president at Medical Alley, the trade group for the region's medical technology industry.

"Europe is an enormous market for the healthcare companies based here in Minnesota," she said.

But consumer advocates aren't fans of the Delta-Northwest — or other airline mergers, generally. Industry consolidation has left consumers with fewer choices and higher prices, especially outside major metro markets, said Bill McGee, an aviation advisor for Consumer Reports.

"I don't think there's much to celebrate now or anytime in the last 10 years for airline passengers or the many employees of what was formerly Northwest. Nothing has really worked out well with these mega-mergers," he said.