Changes sure to fly in as ‘we right size the airline’

As Delta Air Lines and Northwest merge their operations into one, Delta plans to expand some of its amenities to Northwest flights, including free in-flight snacks for coach passengers, and pillows and blankets in flight, said Delta chief executive Richard Anderson, during a luncheon talk to the Commerce Club in Atlanta on Wednesday.

“It’ll be Delta’s in-flight service,” Anderson said. “We’ve made a lot of the core decisions about product and uniform and flight schedules.”

But Delta also is adopting some policies Northwest already has which passengers may not be as happy with, including charging a $5 to $25 fee for some window, aisle and exit row seats. Delta on Monday did a soft launch of the “Coach Choice” seats program to charge the fee.

Delta will keep its own information technology core infrastructure, but will switch to some Northwest systems that are better than Delta’s. Among the superior Northwest systems, Anderson said, is Northwest’s frequent flier database and system, which offers more functionality for frequent fliers. Anderson also told the Commerce Club that he expects demand for airline travel to decline over the next two years.

That could mean more cuts beyond what Delta has already made this year.

Though Delta expects the merger will make it a stronger international carrier, Delta plans to slow its international expansion plans. Anderson said many of the changes will likely affect international flights to secondary cities in Europe.

“We’re watching closely, and we want to make certain that we right size the airline,” Anderson said. He also said Delta will likely move toward a “fleet simplification,” meaning that some aircraft types may be removed from the fleet of the combined airline.

Separately, in a discussion about the nation’s air traffic control system, Anderson said he has low expectations for the federal government’s investment in improvements, and said, “I think privatization may have to be our only route.”

THE NEW LEADERS

Delta’s corporate leadership team for the combined carrier:

> Richard Anderson, chief executive of Delta Air Lines

> Ed Bastian, president and chief financial officer of Delta Air Lines; chief executive and president of NWA Inc., an operating subsidiary of Delta

> Mike Becker, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NWA

> Mike Campbell, executive vice president of human resources, labor and communications

> Steve Gorman, executive vice president of operations

> Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president of revenue & network

> Ben Hirst, senior vice president and general counsel

> Laura Liu, senior vice president of International

> Theresa Wise, senior vice president and chief information officer