Delta-NWA

In Minnesota, this IS the news today. Delta and NWA are going to merge assuming the DOJ investigation which is estimated to take 6-8 months finds it to not be a monopoly. That makes me wonder how THIS could be approved but the Sirius/XM merger has been waiting for more than a year. We'll get to that on another day I suppose.

Maybe the hard times for NWA will finally be over. This means no more need for baggage porters to panhandle everyone they service.

Ah, you say. This is not about the merger. This is about a personal issue The Orracle has with the Panhandlers - oops I mean Porters.

Right you are.

I was sure I had blogged about this in the past but could not find any evidence of it.

Let me set the story right. I travel quite a bit. When I am forced to check a bag, I use the outside porters to do so. I always tip them a couple of bucks. But man, if you do not have those greenbacks in your hand, they start to hint. OK, they don't hint. They come right out and tell you.

"This is a tipping service" I have even heard them grumble out loud when they do not get a tip... "You think we stand our here for nothing?"

Do waitresses come to your table and as they take your order remind you of the tip they expect? NO!

Like I said, I always tip them. When I get panhandled for the tip, it really turns me off. I imagine in my head that a no-tip service will reroute my bags somewhere else. I never give the tip until my bag is on the belt and out of their reach though.

Let's look at the NWA porters at MSP specifically. Since this is a hub (at least for now), they have a belt behind them that they drop the bag on. This is NO different than the ladies inside at the counters which do not beg for money nor do they expect it. They put the sticky tag on the bag and drop it on the conveyor belt. If these guys had to put the bags on a cart and haul them inside like at some of the airports with a smaller NWA presence - then the tip is GREATLY deserved. Simply doing the same service as the people inside - not so much. But I still tip them.

Maybe with the merger, these poor souls standing under heat lamps will get the compensation they need to do their job such that they don't feel the need to panhandle me.