Possible merger for Delta and Northwest

BREAKING NEWS is comments by analysts and others in the United States that following the financial woes of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines one outcome could be the merger of the two airlines to form a single carrier, the world's largest

A name has even been suggested, Delta Orient, a play on the Atlanta - based airline and Northwest's former brand name, Northwest Orient. 

Whilst both carriers are members of the Skyteam Alliance and don't overlap too much a coming together would create horrendous operational and union problems let alone international legal precedence. 

It would be a field day for lawyers.  Analysts tend to be bookkeepers and not always in the real world when it comes to how airlines work.