By Ted Reed TheStreet.com Staff Report= Delta Remains Wary of Merger =0A=0ABy Ted Reed=0ATheStreet.com Staff Report= er=0A1/8/2007 5:20 PM EST=0AClick here for more stories by Ted Reed=0A=0A= =0A=0ADelta Air Lines (DALRQ - commentary - Cramer's Take) has told its cre= ditors that it will suffer if a takeover bid by US Airways (LCC - commentar= y - Cramer's Take - Rating) succeeds and then triggers a new round of airli= ne consolidation. =0AThe suggestion is part of Delta's continuing battle ag= ainst the hostile merger proposal unveiled Nov. 15 by US Air, which has off= ered to pay Delta's bankruptcy creditors about $8.6 billion in cash and sto= ck for their claims. =0ADelta has said a more appropriate value is between = $9.4 billion and $12 billion, a range US Airways maintains is excessive. = =0AThe management team at Delta is resisting the deal on various fronts. It= 's lobbying politicians in Washington, working with its pilots union and ot= her employees and, like US Airways, it's trying to convince creditors to ba= ck its plan of reorganization. A Delta spokeswoman declined to comment on t= he specifics of the discussions between the airline and its creditors. =0AP= art of Delta's argument is that a combination with US Airways could set off= a consolidation wave that would leave the Atlanta-based airline in a weake= r position, according to a creditor with knowledge of the carrier's efforts= . =0AFor instance, in theory a Delta takeover could convince United (UAUA -= commentary - Cramer's Take) and Continental (CAL - commentary - Cramer's T= ake - Rating) to merge. That could, in turn, make American (AMR - commentar= y - Cramer's Take - Rating) go after Northwest (NWACQ - commentary - Cramer= 's Take). =0ABoth of those potential mergers, if they were to occur, would = produce airlines with a higher number of strong domestic hubs and with bett= er international routes, particularly in Asia and Latin America, than a joi= ned Delta and US Airways. =0APlus, if the Justice Department allowed a Delt= a and US Airways merger despite the considerable overlap between the two ca= rriers, it would hardly be in a position to deny similar advantages to othe= r airlines. =0APage 1 2 3 NEXT PAGE >