Awa, Transport Workers Union Reach Tentative Pact

That negotiation seemed to go well. After what happened with the pilots still getting settled relatively quickly on TA3 after years of on-again and off-again I have a few theories as to what is going on.

1) Current management is really trying to improve relations with the workers and has discovered that we really can be good employees if we are given some respect and not constantly in the turmoil the previous management always seemed to cause.

2) There is a plane and/or financing deal waiting out there and one of the terms is guaranteed labor peace. How the deal interacts with the ATSB restrictions needs to be seen, especially since at least the pilots' contract is automatically reopened when the ATSB restrictions are lifted.

3) Both of the above.

My guess is number 3. It's a gut hunch.
 
Either that or another one of one of our famous' posters UCTs is going to take shape.

Somebody, already put together a combined US Airways / AmericaWest rotue map. Will have to find the link to the post.
 
UCT? I am not familiar with that acronym.

I do not think there is any chance of a HP/U merger. If it were to happen HP folks would get raises IF they stayed employed. I suspect U would bring their own people back in seniority order and we would be at the bottom. There is no advantage in doing that. To illustrate my point, think of the TWA folks in the AA/TWA merger.

It is my personal belief that U is fundamentally flawed. It is a collection of marginal airlines that snowballed over the years and still could not make it with economies of scale. With WN coming to PHL, I don't see a really good endgame for U. Maybe they can bleed labor for an additional year or two, but their credit rating now stinks and no suppliers likely wants to do business with them where they extend credit to U.

For the people at U, I hope I am wrong.
 
I agree, hp_fa, that it's probably No. 3.

Once your group gets a new contract (negotiations just began), all that leaves is the mechanics, right? Anyone know when that one becomes amendable?

Oh, and I'll add that, IMO, the odds of "unique corporate transaction" involving UAIR and AWA is less than zero (if that's possible!) because of the disparate cost structures. AWA's low costs is why it will have the highest earnings per share of any airline this year. UAIR's high costs is why its survival is in question. Yes, the route structures are a great match, but that's it.

If UAIR manages to transform itself as it apparently wants to, at that point some sort of code-share might be possible. But there's a big mountain to climb first.