By TERRY MAXON / The Dallas Morning News
Southwest Airlines Co. wants its merger with AirTran Holdings Inc. to add up, not down.
Speaking to industry analysts Thursday, chairman and chief executive Gary Kelly said that Southwest doesn't intend to follow the path of other mergers in which the surviving carrier wound up smaller than its two predecessors.
Consolidation usually means "that you take Airline A plus Airline B, and one plus one is less than two," Kelly said. "That's not what we're contemplating here with AirTran."
Dallas-based Southwest officially is in a no-growth mode, and Kelly reiterated that that will remain the company's stance until Southwest closes its merger with AirTran, probably in the first half of 2011.
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Southwest Airlines Co. wants its merger with AirTran Holdings Inc. to add up, not down.
Speaking to industry analysts Thursday, chairman and chief executive Gary Kelly said that Southwest doesn't intend to follow the path of other mergers in which the surviving carrier wound up smaller than its two predecessors.
Consolidation usually means "that you take Airline A plus Airline B, and one plus one is less than two," Kelly said. "That's not what we're contemplating here with AirTran."
Dallas-based Southwest officially is in a no-growth mode, and Kelly reiterated that that will remain the company's stance until Southwest closes its merger with AirTran, probably in the first half of 2011.
Full Article