Would you fly Delta?

Question

I'm considering Delta for my next intercontinental flight around April next year but I am concerned about that the airline might not be existent anymore by then. The ticket will be restricted with no refund. Does anybody have an idea what would happen with my ticket/money in case the airline goes bankrupt or is taken over by another airline?
Would you guys rather opt on another airline for this trip then?

Answer 1

Yes, I would still fly Delta. However, it's not a perfect choice and you may not wish to depending on where you're going and why. Delta is planning to exit from bankruptcy next year and appears to be getting everything in place to make that transition successfully. In addition, other airlines like US Airways (who has cash on hand to help) have expressed interest in merging with Delta, which would also help solve their problem. So, I would fly Delta because I think it's very likely that they will be around next year. If they get bought out, the other airline would honor their existing tickets - they would have to and it would only lose them money not to. If Delta ceases to exist, other airlines will often make accomodations for ticketholders on a space available basis, but there is no guarantee. So, if you're planning a honeymoon or family reunion or something critical that requires international travel, you may wish to make other arrangements. (Do consider that Delta partners on many of their international routes with airlines like Air France, so even if Delta did fail, if you had booked your tickets through one of their international partners the tickets would still be valid).

Answer 2

The proposed USAirways and Delta merger is a hostile takeover--- USAirways wants to take over Delta but Delta isn't agreeing to it at this time. If Delta was getting ready to tank again, they would be more open to negotiations with USAirways. Instead they are trying to stand on their own or merge with someone else. That's a pretty good indicator that they WILL be around in April, not completely out of operations. They may be merging with someone else by then (probably not because these are really long, slow processes) but even if they are, it's highly unlikely that your desired flight will be done away with. One of the things that makes an airline want to buy or merge with another airline is the capability to add on more flight destinations. So if they merge with USAir and it's a city that USAir doesn't currently fly to, that route will stay in operation. If it is a duplicated/redundant flight, your flight may be combined with another flight so the time and carrier name may change, but it's pretty unlikely that the flight and the airline will disappear all together.

Also keep in mind that airline bankruptcy and shutdowns take a really long time to go through the court systems for a legacy carrier. For a smaller, younger airline like Independance Air, the process is much faster because you don't have as many unions and creditors involved, but for Delta to cease operations all together, it would take a long time to get to that point.

Nothing in air travel is ever 100% guaranteed but I would feel pretty comfortable picking Delta for this flight. They're emerging from bankruptcy, they're strong enough that other companies are fighting over who gets to merge with them even though they don't particularly want to merge, and the flight is soon enough that there's not really enough time for them to completely fold.

Answer 3

if the amount you could lose is significant to you, then perhaps worry. ask your travel agent for advice. what do they think about delta. then call another travel agent and get a quote for another airline for the same route, sound positive, but then ask casually about delta and whether they would be a good alternative.

this is based on the principle that your travel agent will lie to you to get a sale, while another travel agent will give you the straight story to steer you toward makikng a sale.

Answer 4

yeah unless somthing really bad happens like they go totally bankrupt gone then yeah your ticket will be no good but there is almost no chance of that happening now because they are so close to getting out of itl;

Answer 5

they have a lot of flights from the uk so i guess there are like everyone eles