Delta fends off US Air

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SCOTT JAGOW: So much for a US Airways-Delta merger. US Airways withdrew its $10 billion offer yesterday. Delta’s firm stance against this deal is probably what killed it, as Steve Tripoli reports.

STEVE TRIPOLI: Delta may fly out of bankruptcy protection on its own this spring. Management and the pilots’ union both say that’s Delta’s best path.

The two airlines have lots of overlapping routes. US Airways saw a chance to consolidate and save money.

Analyst Michael Boyd of The Boyd Group says the other players saw it differently.

MICHAEL BOYD: This was really a play to reduce competition. Nothing wrong with that per se from a parochial standpoint, but for the nation, it wouldn’t have been good.

Delta chief Gerald Grinstein says his airline used bankruptcy to get stronger, like it’s supposed to. The creditors committee backed that stand after much debate.

US Airways chief W. Douglas Parker says the committee didn’t take the best deal.

Michael Boyd disagrees.

BOYD: Parker also said that it would have resulted in more choices for consumers and increased job security for employees? Wrong.

Boyd says regulators might have killed the buyout even if the creditors hadn’t.

I’m Steve Tripoli for Marketplace.