Fretting over the merger

While many folks in the northern climate are worried about the effect that Delta will have if and when it takes over Northwest Airlines, in Atlanta there’s some fretting about what will happen to Delta if it adopts some of the practices of Northwest.

Teamsters President James Hoffa says because Northwest outsources a lot of its maintenance work overseas, the prospect of sending even more jobs to Asia “is a key concern that should be addressed” in any regulatory review of a possible merger.

Delta, which like Northwest is not represented by the Teamsters, says the concern is unfounded because the airline profits from doing maintenance for other airlines.

“Delta senior leadership has made very clear its commitment to growing its in-house maintenance business by focusing on high-skill, high-value maintenance work,” Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Last year, Delta TechOps brought in more than $377 million in revenue, and 2008 is looking to be even better.”

Did you catch that?

Delta is commenting on the effects of a merger that hasn’t even been announced yet.