Delta’s cola pick still up in air

As Delta Air Lines integrates its operations with merger partner Northwest Airlines, one of its difficult decisions pits Coca-Cola against rival Pepsi.

Delta will continue to serve Coca-Cola drinks on flights while Northwest will still serve Pepsi drinks, “until a final determination has been made on a single beverage provider,” according to a memo last week.

“We’re having conversations with both,” Delta vice president of marketing Tim Mapes said Monday. “There are contracts in place with each of the two entities that have got to be addressed… . There definitely will be financial considerations that we will be taking into account.”

Coca-Cola Co. spokesman Ray Crockett declined to comment.

While Delta President Ed Bastian said in an interview last year, “It’ll be Coke. That’s not a hard one,” the practical matter of breaking Northwest’s contract with Pepsi may make the decision more difficult than simply a matter of taste —- or hometown connections.

Atlanta-based titans Delta and Coca-Cola have close ties as corporate forces in the city. Coca-Cola board member Ron Allen is a former chairman, president and chief executive of Delta. Bastian happens to be a former Pepsi executive.

Back in 1993, Northwest became the first major airline to offer passengers a choice between Coke and Pepsi, after Pepsi convinced it to make the move. At the time, Coca-Cola said it thought it would win the in-flight taste test.

Coca-Cola is the exclusive soft-drink provider for seven of the 10 largest U.S. airlines. Pepsi is the exclusive provider on one, Northwest. American is supplied by both Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Alaska Airlines carries beverages by Jones Soda.

Joe Guy Collier contributed to this article.