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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chief executives of Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. are trying to assuage skeptical lawmakers' concerns about the carriers' proposed combination, defending it as the best way to cope with surging fuel prices.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson and Northwest CEO Doug Steenland say their airlines would be stronger together than they are apart, more competitive with large foreign carriers and better equipped to handle record fuel prices that led them on Wednesday to report a combined first-quarter loss totaling $10.5 billion. They reiterated that no hubs will be closed, no large-scale layoffs are planned and that the combination will create roughly $1 billion in cost savings.
Delta has a hub in Salt Lake City.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
