US Airways will formally present its US$8 billion merger offer for Delta Air Lines to Delta and its official unsecured creditors committee sometime this week, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

 

It will be the first time for the two airlines to meet to discuss the bid since US Airways announced its offer on Nov. 15.

 

Winning the support of creditors is crucial because Delta is operating under bankruptcy protection and any plan to emerge from bankruptcy must be approved by them.

 

The report said that US Airways has repeatedly contacted Delta about a merger, but those approaches were rejected.

 

Delta's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, has said that Delta would prefer to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings as a stand-alone carrier. In a response statement to US Airways' offer, he repeated that Delta has the exclusive right to submit a reorganization plan until Feb. 15.

 

A merger between US Airways and Delta would create the world's largest airline, overtaking American Airlines, according to the report. Yet US Airways, the No. 5 domestic airline, faces a number of significant hurdles in its quest, including antitrust concerns.

 

In addition, US Airways continues to face opposition to the deal from its branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, which staged a protest on Nov. 16. A representative from the association said that the group still had grievances about compensation.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2006)