Old news by now, I know. But I had to say something. Frankly, I was caught off guard by this. Not by airline consolidation, but simply by USAirways attempting to acquire Delta. Granted, the political climate has been fairly hands-off in regards to mergers and acquisitions of late, but I can’t help but think that there are numerous anti-trust issues standing in the way of this merger.

USAirways’ largest hub is in Charlotte while Delta’s is in Atlanta. If this deal actually happens, I expect the USAirways presence in Charlotte to diminish markedly. And I can’t even begin to imagine the nightmarish logistics of merging disparate aircraft types, employees and computer systems, especially since USAirways in already in the midst of this with the USAirways/America West merger. All of this is rampant speculation for now, of course. But it’s surely going to make for an interesting several months ahead.