US Air, Delta Launch PR battle

Delta Air Lines' creditors and a bankruptcy judge will decide whether US Airways buys Delta, but that isn't stopping both airlines from battling for public opinion.

Both airlines have hired big names in the financial public relations business to help shape the views of Wall Street analysts, airline employees and airline customers as well as the creditors and judges. US Airways hired New York communications firm Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. Delta is using Kekst and Co., a large New York financial PR firm with longstanding ties to the airline.

In a surprise announcement Nov. 15, US Airways publicly offered Delta's bankruptcy creditors $8 billion in stock and cash for Delta, which is in Chapter 11. Delta's management has rebuffed the offer.

The unveiling was well-orchestrated. That morning, US Airways' PR team, along with a team from Joele Frank, placed predawn phone calls to dozens of reporters and Wall Street analysts to alert them to an 8:15 a.m. conference call with CEO Doug Parker.

A new electronic newsletter, For the Record, now spins every small development in the pending deal in the most favorable light to US Airways.

"They do aggressive financial PR, and they are very good at it," US Airways Senior Vice President Elise Eberwein said of the Joele Frank firm. Frank could not be reached.

Meanwhile, Delta bought a full-page advertisement opposing the merger in its hometown newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And at the urging of its own employees, Delta ordered and distributed 50,000 red "Keep Delta My Delta" lapel buttons. US Airways has scheduled meetings with influential newspaper editorial boards.

Experts on the PR industry say it's common in hostile takeovers for the pursuer and pursued to hire specialized PR firms. PR Week reporter Hamilton Nolan says the firms know their audiences, and the stakes.

"They ask: 'What's the message to the creditors, to the media, to analysts, to customers, to shareholders?' All those groups get targeted messages."

Not all PR is for public consumption, however. Right after last month's announcement, Delta placed countless private phone calls to its unsecured creditors to argue that a merger would be risky and that Delta is better off alone.

The takeover fight between Delta and US Airways won't be over anytime soon. Delta hopes to show creditors its business plan as a stand-alone airline later this month.

Michael Freitag, the Kekst partner overseeing the Delta account, says financial PR is a long-term project. Delta's efforts to win support from all its crucial constituents "is a marathon, not a sprint."

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