Air France-KLM said to invest in Delta-Northwest

Air France-KLM said to invest in Delta-Northwest
Reuters - Thursday, February 14 02:48 am

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Air France-KLM Group , Europe's biggest airline, plans to invest in a combined Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines carrier in exchange for a board seat, Bloomberg said on its Website on Wednesday.

The size of Air France's potential stake has not been set yet, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Industry experts have been expecting Air France-KLM, which already has a marketing partnership with Delta and Northwest as part of SkyTeam global alliance, to provide strategic or financial help to the two U.S. airlines.

A Delta-Northwest combination would create the world's largest airline and keep the carriers in the 11-member SkyTeam Alliance with Air France. The alliance allows airlines to share codes and fly passengers via other carriers on the team.

SkyTeam's chairman and the Air France vice chairman, Leo van Wijk, said in January his Paris-based carrier would do "whatever is possible" to aid the merger.

A merger between Delta and Northwest could be announced in the next few weeks as Northwest pilots review details of a proposed deal, people briefed on the situation told Reuters on Monday.

Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association had been provided with details of what a combined carrier would look like, a person briefed said.

Delta and Northwest have agreed on major terms for a tie-up, including keeping Delta's name and Atlanta headquarters and having Delta Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson run the combined carrier, Bloomberg said in its report.

The Wall Street Journal last month had reported that Air France-KLM could invest nearly $1 billion (509 million pounds) in a combined carrier, citing people familiar with the situation.

Separately, Air France-KLM also is in talks to buy Italian carrier Alitalia .

Air France, Delta and Northwest did not immediately return calls for comment.