FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 7, 2006

Isakson Vows to ‘Do Everything I Can’
to Help Delta Air Lines Remain a Stand-Alone Carrier  

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) yesterday spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to a proposed bid by U.S. Airways to merge with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and vowed to do everything possible to help Delta emerge from bankruptcy as a strong, stand-alone carrier.

“Delta Airlines is a great American carrier that, like most airlines, has gone through terribly difficult times post-9/11,” Isakson said on the Senate floor last night. “Delta has worked hard in bankruptcy to develop a plan to exit bankruptcy as a healthy, thriving and dominate company.”

Isakson believes the overlay of routes of Delta Air Lines and U.S. Airways will result in massive duplications followed by massive reductions in service, especially to small cities in the Southeast. The elimination of competition, Isakson believes, will force prices to go up and service to go down.

“In our fragile aviation system, it is critical to understand that competition is still in the best interests of the American consumer,” Isakson said. “A further consolidation of the airlines we have now would lead us to singular service in many cities, an absence of competition, an inevitable increase in rates and, unfortunately, less than the healthiest aviation industry in the country.”  

Isakson has contacted top officials at the White House, the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation to voice his concerns over the potential negative impact of the proposed merger.

For the past two years, Isakson has worked with members of the Senate and the House of Representatives on how best to protect tens of thousands of airline employees – including some 91,000 Delta Air Lines pensioners and family members in Georgia – from losing their pensions and to help protect American taxpayers from having to pay for those airline pensions. In August, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 was signed into law.

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