By Joshua Freed
Associated Press
ST. PAUL — It’s getting easier to see how Minnesota and Northwest Airlines might negotiate their way out of financial incentives aimed at keeping the airline based here.
Delta Air Lines Inc. probably would be willing to commit to keeping a minimum level of jobs and flying here in exchange for a release from the financial penalties of moving the headquarters, a Northwest executive told state lawmakers Friday.
And Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he would use the leverage of the headquarters commitment to try to keep a hub and jobs here.
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That looked like a road map to a solution. The Northwest executive, General Counsel Ben Hirst, said no formal talks between the airlines and the state have taken place yet.
Pawlenty also said the state has leverage because it can weigh in with the Justice Department as it considers whether antitrust problems exist with the planned Northwest-Delta tie-up. Pawlenty said in a statement Friday the state would not do that until the new Delta "specifies its commitment to Minnesota regarding hub operations, headquarters and employment levels."
Two out of three of those won’t be a problem. Delta has said it will close no hubs or furlough front-line workers because of the combination. It has said it would cut about 1,000 administrative jobs. Hirst told a legislative hearing Friday that those jobs would be cut in Atlanta and Eagan, where Northwest is based.
Financial penalties
Northwest’s agreements go back to 1992, when the Metropolitan Airports Commission issued $270 million in bonds on Northwest’s behalf. Northwest has been making payments on those bonds ever since.
The state can require immediate repayment if Northwest leaves. Hirst said that would cost about $212 million at the end of 2009, around the time the headquarters would be likely to leave. As of now, Delta and Northwest have about $7 billion in cash between them.
Northwest also gets roughly $200 million a year in subsidies that act like a rent reduction at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. It could lose those if it moves the headquarters.
Hirst said if the state is willing to negotiate the issue, "I believe that there will be a willingness on the part of Delta to try to work out commitments" for jobs and hubs "that will be very satisfactory to the state."
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Incentive package
Rep. Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, assistant minority leader, has been pushing a package of incentives aimed at enticing Delta into moving its headquarters to Minnesota after the deal closes.
Hirst said it’s doubtful Delta will reconsider.
