Since all the excitement has shifted to hope that the British are going to come bail out AA, let me take a diversion and respond to Kevin’s comments above.
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Kev,
You do realize that I, someone who has always held the printed word, aviation, and personal travel in high regard chose one of NWA’s most visible marketing tools as my moniker when I began participating in aviation chat forums nearly 10 years ago – fully five years before DL and NW merged? My eye had long before been drawn to a certain northern tier airline years before DL ever paid much attention to them. And even though the NWA name and brand no longer is used, I continue to proudly write under the name of one of its most identifiable marks.
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As for the notion that DL is “getting the red out,” you do realize that the tilted widget came directly from NW’s own identity as did the abundant use of red, a color which DL never used as much as they did before their exit-BK livery which presaged the NW merger?
Red appears throughout DL’s marks far more than it ever did, including in the red blankets onboard the global fleet.
DL never attempted to incorporate as many brand elements from any other airline it merged or acquired assets from to the degree it did with Northwest Airlines, including Pan Am which was one of the most globally recognized marks in aviation. The closest they came to carrying over PA branding was retaining the name of the JFK terminal as the Worldport, a name which ironically tied in with the branding NW would later choose.
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I have saluted NW’s contribution to aviation thousands of times.
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As for the continuing notion that DL cut MEM to get rid of NW’s presence, anyone who knows the history of the airline industry knows that DL was far stronger along the southern end of the Mississippi River including MEM long before NW acquired a presence in the region.
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The only place where DL invested more of its own resources was in JFK with the Pan Am acquisition and it was indeed largely to replace PA’s own aircraft. DL has added its own resources ALONGSIDE those which it has retained from NW. Even when the discussion turns to the DC9s, NW had already announced plans to pull down the fleet before the DL merger.
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DL has retained more elements of what was NW than it has of any other airline with which it has merged or acquired assets.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Delt...58140/L/&sid=64628e9b57fceb4ffb911572d14e0ae3
