A Delta-Northwest merger could be announced as early as next week, according to the WSJ, which cited unnamed sources. In addition, the preliminary talks between United and Continental have grown more serious. About a month back the Delta board had given its CEO the go-ahead to hold simultaneous talks with Northwest and United. As Delta draws closer to Northwest, United is now focusing on Continental. These would be very complicated transactions for reasons cited in the Journal story – and yet there’s urgency in getting a deal done quickly because it would still leave time for the merger to get approval under the Bush administration watch. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but both mergers would have huge consequences for the flying public (none of them especially good) and for schedules and gate availability at LAX and other Socal airports. That could mean higher ticket prices and more crowded planes.