Delta Air Lines began trying to rally support from creditors for its push to fend off an 8.76 billion dollars hostile takeover bid by US Airways, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Atlanta-based carrier, the third-largest U.S. airline by traffic, firmly reiterated its determination to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone company.

Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein and other executives held a series of conference calls Thursday with creditors to sift through terms of US Airways' offer, pressing creditors to back Delta's restructuring plan.

The move could give Delta an early advantage in its fight to remain independent, since US Airways has not had any face-to-face meetings with Delta's official creditors committee, the Journal said.

On Wednesday, US Airways announced that it had made a merger proposal to Delta "under which both companies would combine upon Delta's emergence from bankruptcy."

US Airways, the sixth-largest U.S. carrier, offered Delta's creditors 4.0 billion dollars in cash and 78.5 million shares of stock with an aggregate value of approximately 4.0 billion dollars based on the closing price of its stock as of Tuesday.

However, antitrust concerns could squelch a deal or make it less attractive, said the Journal.

Also, Delta management has the exclusive right to present restructuring plans through Feb. 15 and could stymie US Airways' efforts to gain financial data necessary to put together a detailed offer to creditors.

One of the biggest hurdles for a successful US Airways-Delta merger will be resistance from US Airways' labor union leaders, who voiced opposition to a proposed deal Thursday, the Journal said.

Source: Xinhua