Delta and Northwest merger to be announced shortly

According to a post by Joe Sharkey at Large, Delta and Northwest have finally decided to announce their merger plan.  It looks like the announcement should come any time in the next day or two. 

It is too early to know what the consequences to their frequent flyer programs will be.  Delta and Northwest are currently members of the SkyTeam alliance and so their systems are already somewhat integrated.  They both have similar upgrade schemes, however there upgrade systems are not currently integrated like Northwest and Continentals are.

Speaking of Continental, the thought by many is that this forthcoming announcement by Delta and Northwest will trigger United and Continental to go forward with their own merger. 

The rest of this year is going to be a bumpy time for travelers as the airlines that decide to merge try and work out the merging of their routes, employees, policies and IT systems.