Shares of Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) jumped 10.63% on Wednesday morning after chief executive Doug Steenland said that he expected the merger with Delta Airlines (DAL) to be wrapped up by the end of this year in spite of opposition from labor unions.

He added that Northwest can reap profit if crude oil price stabilizes near the $100-mark. According to Reuters, Steenland refuted any doubts that the credit crunch will cast a shadow on the merged airline as the entity would have $6 billion in cash on closing.

Delta is also up 11.14% a day after AP reported that airline stocks were some of the star performers in the third quarter, with most major carriers clocking double-digit percentage hikes.

"NWA" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?"DAL" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

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