United Airlines is poised to merge with Continental should the merger between Delta and Northwest go through. The Chicago Tribune article states that Continental’s CEO, Larry Kellner, would be the head of the newly formed airline, with Glenn Tilton, United’s CEO, taking a spot as chairman of the board. Discussions are starting to sound serious, even though a location for the merged airline has not been decided. There are a few elements of a merger with United that I find very appealing, inclusion in the Star Alliance, more widebody aircraft, service to Australia and New Zealand, and possible introduction of Economy Plus seating in a portion of the fleet. There are also a few unmentioned hurdles to jump over, including hubs, service, and airport lounges.

The Good

The possibility of Continental, or whatever the merged airline is called, being included in the Star Alliance will be a huge boost to the destinations available and the reward travel options. Star Alliance partners include Lufthansa, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, bmi, Austrian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines and South African Airways (see, the options are plentiful). Why is this a good thing? Well, for one, instead of connecting multiple places to go to say, South Africa, you would be able to do an overnight flight to South America and then a direct flight to Johannesburg. It also offers protection for travelers who encounter bad weather or delays during their trip. Headed to New Zealand from Phoenix? Let’s say your flight is delayed and you miss your Air New Zealand connection, no problem, you will be automatically rebooked on a United flight as long as there is room.

United’s large widebody fleet will help keep the route network strong and allow more capacity from different cities to new markets. The difference in fleets would lead to some interesting consolidation, including getting rid of United’s and Continental’s 737-500s in favor of keeping the Airbus 319s and 320s. With the mix of fleets there would also be the ability to do away with some of the less desirable regional jets (CRJ200). Having more widebody aircraft would also open up the possibility for more transcontinental flights being flown using larger planes, allowing more comfort and first/business class seating. Along with the widebody fleet comes service to Australia and New Zealand, something that Continental has only offered through island-hopper service to Cairns. Both of these points are huge for Continental flyers, who are used to single-aisle aircraft across the country, and little to no routes to Australia.

The last big perk of a merger is the potential for an economy plus section of seating on international and transcontinental flights. I’ve been a huge proponent of E+ (economy plus) since United and other carriers introduced it. The increase in legroom for a slightly higher price is more than worth it on long flights. Continental’s reluctance to make changes to their aircraft due to the introduction of a “sub-fleet” has been discouraging, but with a merger, this may become a reality, making a ton of business travelers happy, especially those on economy class budgets.

The Bad

Of course, with all of the good news, comes a little bad news. First is United’s service, or lack thereof. As an airline, they are known for poor customer service, to the point that frequent flyers are somewhat used to it. Continental is the antithesis of bad service compared to United and my fear is, United may rub off on the Continental staff a little too much. If you have ever flown through Newark you know that the different Continental staff can be surly at times, so I wonder what will happen if United’s staff start mingling with these folks. However, if Larry Kellner has his way and the Continental method of training is carried throughout the company then it could be great news.

Airport lounges are another place that United falls short. I have only been in a RCC once, but that experience was enough. If Continental can spread the image and services of the President’s Club, the better this merger will be. Free Wi-Fi for members, good food options, and free drinks all would be welcome additions to the Red Carpet Club. While the additional locations available by including the Red Carpet Clubs would be very gladly welcomed by Continental flyers.

Lastly comes the topic of hubs. If Continental and United were to merge tomorrow, the list of hubs would be as follows:

• ORD
• SFO
• LAX
• DEN
• IAD
• EWR
• CLE
• IAH

That is a huge list and the first to go would more than likely be LAX, with CLE and DEN seeing a drastic reduction in traffic. I can see Cleveland being used more and more later on for transatlantic flights but the need for DEN would fade. Los Angeles just wouldn’t be necessary anymore and United has been dwindling traffic there over the past few years.

On paper a merger of Continental and United looks great but there are caveats of such a move and I’m sure as more details are released there will be some skepticism and apprehension.

I try to travel as lean and mean as possible, but over my last few trips I’ve found myself carrying more than needed. The desire to have as many of my necessary tools with me as much as possible is irritating and a security nightmare. My answer so far has been to wait for a 3G capable iPhone with more than 30GB of space, therefore getting rid of my need to carry a phone and iPod. When such a device exists, I’ll make the switch from my Treo.

The other big space waster are cords. Power cords, Ethernet cables, and various USB cables create a web of discourse in the front pocket of my bag, leaving little room for anything else. So, I eliminated every cord except for the power adapter, my camera hookup, and iPod cable. My phone syncs via Bluetooth and I have yet to use my iPod so much as to run down the battery when on a trip but for “safety” I still bring it with me.

I carry one pen and one pencil, a regular sized ruled Moleskine and a Moleskine Cahier, and a mini-bottle of Tylenol Rapid Release Gels.

That is a quick glance into my travel and work bag.

After posting some news regarding Continental’s LiveTV and WiFi announcement I decided to do a little reading.

Come to find out, the WiFi implementation being pursued by Continental is the same technology in place on a test aircraft for JetBlue.

This technology comes with a caveat, it only works on certain Blackberry devices and only provides Yahoo! centric content. Yahoo! Mail is available (if you have it) but it is an extremely slimmed down version, offering little advantage for business travelers without WiFi enabled Blackberries.

I have to give this a thumbs down. Continental should pursue something similar to what American Airlines is in the process of testing, restricted, but not pigeonholed, internet access.

News spread fast of Delta’s desire to merge with United Airlines or Northwest Airlines. It has been known for some time that a merger in the airline industry would happen, the only question was, who would it be. Now that it looks imminent that Delta will actually go through with a merger, let’s examine the affects it will have on the industry and the traveller.

The affect on the industry

The immediate result will be a slightly chaotic scramble for all of the airlines to resecure their market and assess the damage done by a merger. From alliance ties to hub locations, all of the airlines will have to figure out the balance that will work post-merger, even if they are not directly involved.

Hubs are one of the bigger points of contention. With consolidation comes operations movement and my prediction is the move away from using Salt Lake City as a hub if Delta chooses United Airlines or Cincinnati if Northwest is their choice. Salt Lake City has been a great hub for Delta but has not completely filled their needs for a west coast drop off point. With United’s firm grasp on both the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets, Delta’s hold becomes much tighter. Their ability to offer multiple transcontinental flights to multiple markets would be near unstoppable, competing heavily just with American and Continental.

If Northwest is the airline chosen, then I could see Salt Lake City being used more heavily and the Cincinnati airport slowly decommissioned as a hub. CVG is a nice airport and handles multiple types of traffic but I am not sure the market it serves is large enough to justify its continued use. Delta would be much better off with a more centrally located airport to serve the middle U.S. while at the same time being able to get more people across the Atlantic. My only reservation with Memphis is its heavy use by FedEx for operations. This could potentially lead to traffic issues, resulting in delays and poor performance.

The other big piece of the merger pie is the aircraft situation. Northwest’s fleet of DC-9s is growing old. Though they are paid off, their condition continues to deteriorate, leading to an uncomfortable experience and sometimes delayed flight. Delta would sell these planes off if they absorbed Northwest. If United ends up being the focus of Delta’s acquisition desires, I could see portions of the United fleet being sold off as well as some of Delta’s MD-88s. In either case, I think Delta will aim to find the perfect balance for new international traffic and connecting flights around the country.

One more aspect to consider is the airline industry as a whole. If a merger is allowed to proceed, there is potential for a third airline to go out of business. That’s right, US Airways may bite the dust if the industry is condensed and a positive experience reached. This would effectively rid the industry of what many consider a “bottom feeder”.

The affect on travellers

There is a lot of speculation that a Delta merger could be detrimental to customers for a number of reasons. The main reason to worry is the fact that there will be less seats available and therefore higher fares. As one airline merges with another they will certainly reduce the size of their fleets (see above), effectively choking the market. Customers will be forced to pay the fares because they will be some of the only options are certain routes. While this will probably be handled by the SEC there is always the possibility that ticket prices will significantly increase.

The other point of contention is frequent flyer programs. As the programs become one, the value of the mileage becomes less because, again, the number of reward seats available on flights will be drastically reduced. The reduction in the number of seats will be caused by an increase in program subscribers and artificially by the airline, who will want to make sure that they are not “giving away” too much, even though tickets purchased with miles are seen as revenue.

Conclusion

So where does that leave us? In my opinion, a merger may be the boost the airline industry needs. Quality and standards are fairly low, both at United and Northwest and by merging with a carrier that is slowly working to get it right, they may produce a better product. It is hard to ignore that the need for more capacity in certain markets is growing quickly while in others it is being forced to diminish. By allowing Delta to merge with one of these carriers we can hope to see both of these criteria occur. Delta can effectively serve the west coast as well as foreign markets it has yet to touch while possibly reducing waste.

Of course there are negatives to this, namely, the reduction in capacity. This may lead to sharp increase in fare prices, pushing more customers to the low cost carriers Southwest and JetBlue.

The industry needs an overhaul, let’s just hope this one is for the better.