Blue Grass Awaits Merger’s Fallout
By Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.
Apr. 15–The merger of Delta and Northwest — the two most active airlines at Blue Grass Airport — could have a significant effect on Lexington air travelers.
Officials at Blue Grass Airport said they are taking a “wait and see” attitude about the deal, which was announced Monday night. Delta said it reached an agreement to take over Northwest and create the world’s biggest carrier. The boards of both companies gave the deal the go-ahead on Monday.
Delta and its affiliated carriers, Atlantic Southeast, Chautauqua, Comair and Freedom, carried more passengers to and from Blue Grass Airport in 2007 than any other airline. Delta and its affiliates handled 44 percent of the Lexington market in 2007, with 460,902 passengers.
The Northwest-affiliated carriers Pinnacle and Mesaba came in second, with 14 percent of the Lexington market, or 148,192 passengers, Ellestad said.
“It’s difficult to speculate” on what effect the merger will have on Blue Grass, said airport spokesman Brian Ellestad, who was interviewed before the merger announcement Monday night.
He said that any downsizing that might result from a merged Delta and Northwest that affects Lexington flights could create opportunities for other carriers at Blue Grass.
“When Delta pulled its Dallas flights (in 2005), that created an opportunity for American Eagle to come in and do Dallas, and they did Chicago at the same time,” Ellestad said.
Delta and its affiliated carriers make an average of 15 daily departures from Blue Grass Airport, going to Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, Washington, D.C., and Orlando, Fla. Pinnacle and Mesaba together average eight departures a day, traveling to Memphis and Detroit.
“Northwest just added a third Memphis roundtrip on April 8. It has done extremely well so far. The third day of operation, it was a full airplane,” Ellestad said. “It just validates the strength of the Lexington marketplace.”
Delta also uses the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport as one of its hubs. In e-mail messages to frequent fliers Monday night, the airlines said that frequent-flier miles would not be affected by the merger. The merged airline will be called Delta.
They also said that current destinations would continue to be served, and existing hubs would be maintained. Those include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and Tokyo.
The merger still requires anti-trust approval, which could take several months.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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