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http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20130813-former-amr-chief-robert-crandall-calls-government-ignorant-on-aviation.ece
f WriterPublished: 13 August 2013 08:23 PMUpdated: 13 August 2013 10:58 PMRobert Crandall is outraged that the Justice Department is challenging the proposed $12 billion merger between US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines’ parent company, AMR Corp.“This is another indication that the U.S. government does not know the first thing about the aviation industry,” the retired chairman, president and CEO of AMR said in a telephone interview Tuesday from his home outside Boston. “It’s stunning. It’s absolutely crazy.”Crandall, never one to mince words, said this is the latest in a series of monumental mistakes by the U.S. government, beginning with its decision to let international carriers code-share (market each other’s flights) in the United States.“By so doing, they took away the advantage of U.S. carriers in international markets,” Crandall said.“They made a mistake when they allowed U.S. airlines to send their airplanes overseas for maintenance, thus sacrificing tens of thousands of middle-class maintenance jobs in the U.S.,” he said. “And they made a mistake when they permitted Delta to absorb Northwest and permitted United to merge with Continental because they created monolithic carriers that require monolithic competitors.“Without a merger, neither [American or US Airways] in the very long run can make it — be sure to emphasize in the very long run,” he said.“Ten years down the road, if American and US Air don’t succeed in creating greater mass and more ubiquity, they can’t compete effectively against United and Delta.”
f WriterPublished: 13 August 2013 08:23 PMUpdated: 13 August 2013 10:58 PMRobert Crandall is outraged that the Justice Department is challenging the proposed $12 billion merger between US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines’ parent company, AMR Corp.“This is another indication that the U.S. government does not know the first thing about the aviation industry,” the retired chairman, president and CEO of AMR said in a telephone interview Tuesday from his home outside Boston. “It’s stunning. It’s absolutely crazy.”Crandall, never one to mince words, said this is the latest in a series of monumental mistakes by the U.S. government, beginning with its decision to let international carriers code-share (market each other’s flights) in the United States.“By so doing, they took away the advantage of U.S. carriers in international markets,” Crandall said.“They made a mistake when they allowed U.S. airlines to send their airplanes overseas for maintenance, thus sacrificing tens of thousands of middle-class maintenance jobs in the U.S.,” he said. “And they made a mistake when they permitted Delta to absorb Northwest and permitted United to merge with Continental because they created monolithic carriers that require monolithic competitors.“Without a merger, neither [American or US Airways] in the very long run can make it — be sure to emphasize in the very long run,” he said.“Ten years down the road, if American and US Air don’t succeed in creating greater mass and more ubiquity, they can’t compete effectively against United and Delta.”
