They say a combined Delta-Northwest would retain its pilot training facility in Eagan and its catering and cargo operations at the Twin Cities airport.
A reservation center will stay in Chisholm, which Delta CEO Richard Anderson dryly notes is the hometown of U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar.
Oberstar is the powerful chairman of the House Transportation Committee and a critic of airline mergers.
Anderson and Northwest CEO Doug Steenland met with editors and reporters with the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The merged airline would be based in Atlanta.
But Anderson and Steenland say by keeping major operations in Minnesota, they hope to remain in compliance with the "spirit" of loan covenants that Northwest previously signed with the state for a $245 million loan.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/4/209133