Delta and Northwest officials roamed the East Coast Tuesday, trying to convince Wall Street types, employees, politicians and reporters that creating the world's biggest airline and basing it in Atlanta is a good idea.

Their well-orchestrated road show courted financial analysts and the national media in New York City and Delta employees in Atlanta. And, in between, executives had politicians in Georgia, Minnesota and Washington on the other end of their cellphones.

Mikki K. Harris/AJC (ENLARGE)

At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Bruce Alley, a Delta pilot, and his wife, Cathy, listen Tuesday to Delta executives talk about their merger with Northwest.

Mikki K. Harris/AJC (ENLARGE)

Delta CEO Richard Anderson (right) and President Ed Bastian talk about the merger Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson airport.

DELTA MERGER Latest stories: • All eyes on flight attendant vote • Flight attendants vote on joining union • Merger benefits could take years • Civil rights coalition: Delta needs to boost diversity • What's value of merger? Depends What it means: • For employees, fliers, stock Maria Saporta: • Atlanta stays dominant in global business Have your say: • Who won? Who lost? • Tales from two cities New Web site: • Airlines give their take Rankings: • Customer service • Versus their rivals Track their stocks: • DAL | • NWA Corporate: • Memo to employees (PDF) • Bios of leadership • Merger timeline/history • Airlines set up Web site Photos: • CEOs testify • Tuesday's developments • Monday at airports • Delta through the years Maps: • Delta, Northwest hubs • New international route Video: • CEOs tout merger benefits • More Delta News • More Business News • Business Photo Galleries

"It's an important day for Atlanta. It's an important day for Delta. It's an important day for aviation in the United States," Delta CEO Richard Anderson announced to a gaggle of local reporters at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, as nearby Delta employees cheered.

Wall Street wasn't as merry. Delta shares fell nearly 13 percent to $9.16 per share, and Northwest dropped a little more than 8 percent, to $10.28, on the first day of trading after the airlines announced plans to create a mega-carrier to be headquartered in Atlanta and called Delta.

Before the merger can take place, stockholders and federal regulators must approve the union — hence the massive sales blitz that in coming weeks will make its way to major hub cities and Washington. Executives will visit with editors of local and national newspapers. They will chat with business talk show commentators. It will be an exhausting parade that could stretch nearly to the end of the year, when the companies expect the deal to close.

On Tuesday alone, Anderson, Delta President Ed Bastian and Northwest CEO Doug Steenland showed up on CNN, CNN International, the business network CNBC and the Today show. In a 9 a.m. conference call with industry analysts, Bastian said the merger will bring rewards to all "stakeholders" — ranging from higher returns for investors to better employee job security — without hurting competition.

"We've done this in a fashion that's truly unique," said Bastian, who will be the combined company's president and chief financial officer, the same role he has at Delta.

At a 10:30 a.m. press conference near Times Square, Anderson said: "We're creating an airline that can effectively compete and win in the global marketplace."

But as the price of jet fuel rose to a new record Tuesday, in response to oil prices that neared $114 a barrel, investors seemed skeptical. Most airline stocks dropped, although Delta and Northwest were among the biggest losers.

At the 3 p.m. press conference in Atlanta, Bastian told reporters that Delta and Northwest stocks probably fell because of jet fuel prices and because analysts wanted Delta and Northwest to announce hub closings. The carriers have said they will not close any hubs or lay off any front-line employees, such as flight attendants, ticket agents or pilots. Some administrative employees could lose jobs, the companies said.

At about the same time Bastian was talking to reporters in Atlanta, U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar was talking to the media in Washington, calling the merger "the worst development in aviation history."

Congress does not have the power to stop a merger, but powerful congressmen do have the power of persuasion. "We will marshal all the forces we can" to persuade the U.S. Department of Justice to reject the deal on antitrust grounds, Oberstar said.

The airlines' executives say pressures on the industry, such as mounting fuel costs, can be partly offset through consolidation, and they predicted federal regulators will approve the deal.

Delta and Northwest say they expect the merger to produce about $1 billion annually in increased revenues or lower costs, resulting in a boost to earnings within the first year after the merger is approved. That forecast does not count up to $1 billion in cash costs from repainting planes and other merger-related costs.

The combined airline would have revenues of $35 billion and about 75,000 to 80,000 employees, the companies said.

Meanwhile, Continental's top executives signaled that the Houston-based airline may look at a merger as well. In a message to employees Tuesday, Continental Chief Executive Larry Kellner and Jeff Smisek, Continental's president, said the airline will look at "strategic alternatives" now that the planned Delta-Northwest merger has altered the "competitive landscape."

Delta and Northwest officials went to great lengths to dispel the idea that consolidation could harm competitors and drive up fares.

Anderson told reporters in Atlanta that there are "no competitive issues" on domestic routes and predicted the merger will be approved. "We're not really concerned about that," he said.

But the airlines also will have to win over some opponents within their own ranks. Northwest's pilots union opposes the merger. Its pilots were not part of a tentative contract Delta forged solely with its 6,000 pilots that offers them a 3.5 percent equity stake in exchange for contract changes that give the merged carriers more flexibility.

The carriers' executives said they hope to reach a similar deal with Northwest's pilots later this year, while the proposed merger is undergoing antitrust review by U.S. and European regulators.

Northwest pilots already have begun lobbying against the deal in Washington.

The airlines have "a substantial amount of time," to get a deal with Northwest's 5,000 pilots over the next eight months, said Northwest CEO Steenland, who would be on the combined airline's board of directors.

But for Delta employees, whose company is taking the lead in the merger, a Tuesday question-and-answer meeting with top executives turned into something of a pep rally.

Hundreds of Delta workers gathered at the old Georgia International Convention Center near the airport to hear from Anderson and Bastian.

Speakers blared "Celebration" and "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" as Delta workers snapped group photos with their cellphones.

Lee Moak, who heads Delta's pilot union, got on stage.

"This merger is a global merger," Moak told the crowd. "It creates a strong airline. This merger has our competitors scared. This merger is not a Wall Street scheme. This merger is good for each and every one of us."

—Staff writers Tammy Joyner in Atlanta and David Ho in New York contributed to this article.