Today’s award for Least Surprising News Story goes to the Minnesota Legislature’s hearing with testimony from Delta President Ed Bastian (left). Asked by House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Atkins if the new Delta-Northwest is really and truly going to put its headquarters in Atlanta, no matter what tax breaks/loan guarantees/other incentives the state of Minnesota offered to put it in the Twin Cities, Bastian said: Yep.

Pressed by legislators about how many jobs Minnesota stands to lose from this deal, Bastian said: We dunno yet.

We sympathize with our elected officials’ need to do something, in a fly-the-flag kind of way. But this hearing painfully highlights the fact that there’s only one governmental body that really has any say over this deal, and that’s the U.S. Department of Justice. We’ll hear from them later this year.

One quote in particular was a stark reminder of how little leverage the state has. It was when Bastian was reminded that the state could force immediate repayment of the bonds if Northwest’s HQ is taken out of state. Bastian’s reply, according to the AP:

“If we are required to pay it off, we will pay it off. … I don’t know if that’s in anyone’s best interests at this point.”

Translation: Go ahead. Make my day. And then we’ll show you what job cuts really feel like.

Hey, Northwest employees: Feeling blue as you watch the red tail fly off into the sunset? Well, cheer up: You won’t have to wait for Justice Department approval to enjoy some of the fruits of the Northwest-Delta merger.

Starting one week from today, Northwest employees and the families can fly for free on Delta flights (and vice versa), even though the merger won’t take effect until late this year.

And don’t forget (according to the Northwest-Delta press release):

The addition of enhanced travel privileges is part of previously announced merger-related commitments to Delta and Northwest employees, including:

– A significant equity stake for U.S.-based employees of both companies upon closing of the transaction (international employees will receive a cash payment in lieu of equity);
– Pay increases that will continue the progression toward industry-standard pay;
– No involuntary furloughs of frontline employees as a result of the merger;
– Seniority protection through a fair and equitable seniority integration process; and
– The protection of the existing pension plans for both companies’ employees.

Did we mention that oil was down $3 a barrel today? Yes, things are looking up! At least until tomorrow.

NWA’s Doug Steenland (left) and Delta’s Richard Anderson appeared before the House Judiciary Committee this morning to defend their merger. Then they head over to the Senate for another hearing, getting under way about now.

The news take-away so far: Anderson said less than 1,000 jobs are likely to be cut as a direct result of the merger, mostly from the airlines’ headquarters in Eagan and Atlanta. (Guess which one will take most of the cuts?)

These aren’t the last of the hearings. Jim Oberstar’s House Transportation Committee and Amy Klobuchar’s Senate Commerce Committee will get their chances next month.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson put a scare into the stock market today when he said domestic airlines would need to raise fares 15 to 20 percent just to break even in today’s high-fuel-cost environment.

Mix in the fact that oil prices rose near the $120 mark, and a $537 million quarterly loss at United Airlines, and airline stocks took a beating across the board.  As of this writing, Delta shares were down about 12 percent on the day, and Northwest’s shares — which are tied to Delta’s because of the stock-swap nature of their deal — sank 13 percent.

Northwest shares are now down a total of 29 percent since the Delta deal was announced April 14.

Anderson and Northwest CEO Doug Steenland are in Washington today to talk with lawmakers in advance of Thursday’s congressional hearings about the proposed Delta-Northwest merger.

Northwest Airlines has served Pepsi on its airlines for many years. Delta serves Coke. Since the Coca-Cola Co. is based in Delta’s hometown of Atlanta, it stands to reason that the soft-drink contract was not something that was going to be up for negotiation.

A Q&A with Delta’s top brass, published Sunday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, confirms it:

Q: Delta serves Coca-Cola; Northwest serves Pepsi. Will it be Coke or Pepsi on the new Delta?

[Delta CFO Ed] Bastian: It’ll be Coke. That’s not a hard one.

Not sure who exactly who the vendor is on Northwest’s Pepsi contract, but Minnesota’s own PepsiAmericas Inc., led by Robert Pohlad, is the second-largest Pepsi bottler.

UPDATE 4/22 1:12 PM: PepsiAmericas said today that they do not hold the Northwest Airlines contract.

A new airline needs a new slogan, including the merged Northwest-Delta.

Delta could just stick with its most recent slogan, “Change Is … Delta.” (Get it? Change? Delta? From math class? Get it?) That seems appropriate given the circumstances.

Anyone know off the top of their head what Northwest’s slogan is? Me neither. Their most recent slogan, “Now You’re Flying Smart,” was introduced in 2003.

Neither of those two slogans really stuck in the cranium the way a good slogan does. Ask most people for a Northwest slogan and they’d probably say “Some People Just Know How to Fly,” hearkening back to the Aaron Neville TV ads from the early ’90s.

Delta’s best-known slogan dates from the same time frame: “We Love to Fly, and It Shows,” used from 1987 into the early 1990s.

Any ideas for a new slogan for the new Delta-Northwest? Let’s hear ‘em.

As a public service, to help educate the Twin Cities flying public about what changes they can expect when Delta comes to town, we present Delta’s new in-flight safety video.

That’s not a parody; it’s the real thing. You can get the behind-the-scenes scoop from Delta’s relentlessly upbeat corporate blog.

The star of the show is Katherine Lee, a real, live Delta flight attendant based in Atlanta. Delta, in a savvy bit of multimedia marketing, posted the video to YouTube in February, and “Deltalina” (after Ms. Jolie) became an Internet phenomenon — not as big as “Chocolate Rain,” but big enough to garner coverage from such mainstream media outlets as the Associated Press, CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Wired magazine.

“Smoking … is not allowed on any Delta flight.” Yes, ma’am.

The Twin Cities and Atlanta have a history.

October 1991: Jack Morris pitches 10 innings of shutout ball to give the Twins a dramatic seventh-game World Series victory over the Braves.

January 1999: Payback time. Falcons kicker Morten Andersen hits a 38-yard field goal in overtime to send the Vikings to a heartbreaking 30-27 upset loss — and the Falcons to the Super Bowl.

Now Atlanta strikes again where it hurts, this time in the business world, with Atlanta’s Delta Air Lines acquiring Northwest Airlines. Let’s be honest: As much as we’ve complained about Northwest through all its financial troubles of the past 20 years, it’s also been a source of regional pride. (He might be a bum, but he’s our bum!)

What’s your view? Is this another victory for Atlanta in a regional rivalry? Or are you hopeful for a brighter future in the troubled airline industry? What would you say to Atlanta residents about this deal?

You can read what they’re saying to us at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s blog.

Northwest and Delta announced their merger at 7 p.m. tonight. Read all about it here. Some highlights:

Terms of the deal: Northwest shareholders will receive 1.25 Delta shares for each Northwest share, a total of $3.1 billion in stock. Including assumed debt, that gives the deal a total value of $17.7 billion.

Headquarters: Atlanta, with “executive offices” in the Twin Cities.

CEO: Richard Anderson

Northwest leaders: CEO Doug Steenland will get a seat on Delta’s board; Chairman Roy Bostock will become vice chairman.

Hubs: The airline said it will maintain all its current hubs: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Salt Lake City, Amsterdam and Tokyo.

This morning’s Star Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Bloomberg News, are all reporting that a Delta-Northwest merger could be announced “as early as Tuesday.” The WSJ estimates the value of the deal at $3 billion — well below Northwest’s Feb. 1 market value of $4.6 billion but still a modest premium above NWA’s current market cap of $2.6 billion– and Bloomberg reports that Delta CEO Richard Anderson was in the Twin Cities on Sunday to talk with Northwest CEO Doug Steenland.

A loose end that hasn’t been tied up yet: Delta’s talks with its pilots about a revised contract, which apparently are still going on despite Bloomberg’s earlier report of a “tentative” agreement. Those talks were continuing over the weekend.

All this leaves Northwest’s pilots still in the uncomfortable position of being on the outside looking in. A statement from Northwest’s pilots union Sunday raised the possibility of the union’s “vigorous opposition” to the merger. If that’s the case, their hopes would be pinned on hearings led by Rep. Jim Oberstar prompting the feds to block the deal.