Last week, Delta and Northwest Airlines announced their plan to merge. Before they can, the Justice Department has to consider anti-trust issues before approving the deal.

If it does, maybe the Justice Department can make it contingent on both airlines obeying certain laws of physics, like two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time, when developing their departure schedules.

For example, according to Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel III, "Northwest has scheduled 56 departures in one 15-minute window at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, nearly three times the airport's departure capacity for that window."

Considering that other airlines are considering mergers as well, the benefits of such an approach could be significant.