Delta officials face hometown crowd

Delta officials faced the home town crowd in Atlanta today, one day after it was announced that Delta would merge with Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines. Like any high profile marriage, a lot of people will be watching the union of Delta and Northwest. Including passengers concerned about quality and service. And, employees worried about their jobs. Although Delta officials have already said no to any immediate personnel cuts.

But, the toughest challenge the new company faces will be from the Federal Trade Commission. However, Delta CEO Richard Anderson remains confident of the outcome. "There's far more contestability with Southwest, AirTran. And, there's free entry into these markets. From contestability and a competition standpoint, these transactions should be approved by the regulators." Delta officials say they hope to have the deal wrapped up before the end of the year. Before the pro-business White House changes hands.

Click here for more GPB news coverage of the Delta-Northwest merger.