Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Northwest Airlines Corp. shareholders voted in favor of merging the company with Delta Air Lines Inc., clearing one more hurdle in a combination that would form the world's largest carrier.

Today's approval at Northwest's annual meeting in New York came hours before Delta investors gather in Atlanta to ratify the purchase of the Eagan, Minnesota-based airline. The U.S. Justice Department is still reviewing the deal.

Putting together Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier, and No. 6 Northwest would surpass AMR Corp.'s American Airlines as the world's biggest by traffic with flights throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. They have 26 teams working on meshing fleets, technology, routes and other operations.

``We were confident that shareholders were going to complete the transaction, that they were going to recognize the benefits that the merger is going to produce,'' Northwest Chief Executive Officer Doug Steenland, who will step down from management after the deal closes, told reporters in New York. ``This is an end-to- end merger, where there's little overlap.''

The transaction should be completed by year's end, with each Northwest share being exchanged for 1.25 Delta shares, according to the carriers.

Delta's all-stock acquisition was valued at $2.64 billion as of yesterday based on the most recent number of shares outstanding, down 27 percent from $3.63 billion on April 14 when the airlines agreed to merge.

Northwest said that 75 percent of shares outstanding were voted and that of those, 98 percent favored the merger.

Delta's Name, Logo

The combined carrier plans to keep Delta's name, logo and Atlanta headquarters, with Delta CEO Richard Anderson running the merged company.

The post-merger Delta would have $35 billion in annual revenue, with 800 aircraft and 75,000 employees. Delta and Northwest and their regional partners carried 176 million people last year, and the combined carrier would control about 25 percent of the U.S. air-travel market.

Steenland reiterated today that he doesn't expect further job cuts because of the merger. Delta eliminated 4,000 jobs through voluntary buyouts earlier this year, and Northwest trimmed 2,500 positions as they both reduced domestic capacity by more than 10 percent to cope with near-record fuel costs.

Union Protest

About 50 people including Northwest flight attendants protested the merger outside the New York meeting. The Northwest attendants are members of the Association of Flight Attendants union and their Delta counterparts aren't unionized, so the group may not be able to keep union representation after the merger.

An attempt by some Delta flight attendants to join the AFA fell short in May, when only 40 percent of them voted in favor, less than the majority needed.

``They assure us jobs won't be affected for the merger, but after it's complete we'll all be nonunion with no protections like now,'' Joshua Zivick, 37, an 11-year Northwest flight attendant, said outside the meeting.

Northwest's ramp workers and customer-service agents are also in a union, the International Association of Machinists, while their Delta counterparts aren't.

Delta rose 18 cents to $8.21 at 11:53 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Northwest fell 9 cents to $9.90.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 25, 2008 11:53 EDT