Northwest Airlines Corp plans to hire Evercore Group LLC for strategic advice, fueling speculation it's considering a merger or acquisition. The shares jumped 48 percent, and a bond rose to a 14-month high.

On December 8, the airline asked a United States bankruptcy court for permission to hire Evercore. Such requests are usually granted.

Northwest, the fifth-largest US carrier, may feel pressure to combine with another airline as rivals look to grow through acquisitions, Bloomberg News reported. US Airways Group Inc proposed a hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines Inc last month, and United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tilton has said mergers would help the industry recover from US$40 billion in losses since 2001.

Airline mergers are imminent, said Michael Roach, a San Francisco-based consultant with Roach & Sbarra and a former airline executive. "We have a game of musical chairs here, and the music's running, and there aren't very many chairs."

Evercore, a unit of Evercore Partners Inc, would be paid US$75,000 a month along with a US$3 million fee when Northwest emerges from bankruptcy, the filing said. If Northwest completes a merger, Evercore would collect an additional US$2 million.

Evercore Chairman Roger Altman and senior managing directors William Hiltz and David Ying would work with Northwest, according to a letter filed in bankruptcy court.

"It's not a bad time to start looking for a partner," said Jon Ash, president of InterVistas-GA2, a Washington consulting firm. Northwest would be a good fit for Delta or US Airways because they have complementary route systems, Ash said.

Shares of Northwest gained US$1.59 to US$4.90 in New York in over-the-counter trading on December 8. They have risen from 54 US cents at the start of the year on speculation about a merger or acquisition.

The company's 7.625 percent note due in 2023 rose 4.5 US cents to 89.5 US cents on the dollar, yielding 12.5 percent, according to Trace, the NASD's bond-price reporting service. It was the bond's highest price since October 2005.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said the Eagan, Minnesota-based carrier wouldn't comment beyond the filing. Northwest has said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy on its own in the first half of next year. New York-based Evercore's outside public relations counsel, Chuck Dohrenwend, declined to comment.

Northwest is working toward a goal of US$2.5 billion in annual cost cuts. It has trimmed flying and slashed jobs as part of its plan to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.