UA AND US Merger Talks

[Dont call me Shirley]

Not only is he a good leader , but he's an asset due to the faith trust and general adoration he recvieves in the investment community ...

If Doug is trying to merge us with united then he's making the right choice in a hard enviroment ..

Doug Parker is a great numbers guy, no doubt. He'd make a fine CFO. "Good leader", I beg to differ, He and Scot have show little respect for employees and customers. The product has been watered down to embarrassing levels.
(And wear a tie, Mr Parker)

 

[cltrat]

Doug Parker is a great numbers guy, no doubt. He'd make a fine CFO. "Good leader", I beg to differ, He and Scot have show little respect for employees and customers. The product has been watered down to embarrassing levels.
(And wear a tie, Mr Parker)

I'll give Parker this,he can raise money.

Kirby however is a waste of air and should can cast aside

 

[700UW]

Actually Lakefield and Seabury Associates raised the money.

 

[cltrat]

Actually Lakefield and Seabury Associates raised the money.

yes but he has come up with money since then

 

[davo77]

Im not a company person...but I have to give it to Parker and his team for keeping US around over the past few years...lets face it...oil prices and the recession werent easy to get through and US has done it. Having said that...Pilots and F/As are working under Chapter 10 wages and contracts. THAT HAS GOT TO CHANGE!!...
I hope the powers realize that they better bring some money to the table!!

I agree with above post regarding alot of intl transfering to IAD from PHL....Charlotte would grow some intl... and hopefully more SAmerica. Dont know much about UA as a company other then they have really senior F/As...so that will do wonders for my own seniority (someone please offer a buyout)!!!!

I think the bigger question should be about new uniforms.... Im concerned about losing these wonderful Stan Herman duds....:-(

Cheers to a BIGGER better US Airways or United or whatever...

Also, we need to bring back the flight attendant weight restrictions....things have gotten out of hand people!!

 

[mweiss]

... i see no reason ALL of the west coast Hubs couldn't become focus citites , with so many so close together , there's really no reason to put all of your eggs in one basket with a major hub in any of them ..

The coastal hubs are different animals than the mid-continent hubs. They serve three purposes:
1) Transoceanic gateway
2) Coastal O&D
3) Focus city

You mentioned #1 and #3, and those two together would be larger than a typical focus city operation, because of the size and concentration of the international markets. The coastal O&Dis something to keep in mind as well. The Pacific coast airports of SAN, SNA, LGB, ONT, LAX, BUR, SJC, SFO, OAK, PDX, and SEA have a tremendous amount of point to point traffic.

Combine all three, and you'll end up with something that looks remarkably like United's west coast operation. I'd be hard pressed to imagine why it would be beneficial to reduce in any of those three categories; the demand is solid for all three.

 

[Fly]

How big is IAD for UA? Last I knew, it was pretty much a PM international bank, mostly to Europe. Anybody know?

Mornings to Mexico City, Caribbean, Bejing and Narita, Afternoons Europe (Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Zurich, Geneva, Rome, Frankfurt (3), Brussels, Paris, Munich...complete?). Evenings to Kuwait, Dubai, Sao Paulo to Rio and Buenos Aires. A fairly big domestic feed. (feel free to update those cities I forgot).

 

[mweiss]

...PHX would be downsized and divided between LAX, SFO, and DEN (consolidation and capacity reduction they all want so badly) and there would be one less competitor west of DEN, revenue yields would go up on already low fares.

Certainly true in the short run. However, the FTC doesn't usually take kindly to notions of buying competitors to reduce competition. That may hold up the deal.

And even if the FTC gives the merger the green light, history shows that any reduction in capacity caused by a drawdown of US's west operations will be filled by someone else. Given WN's presence in PHX, my money would be on them. So in the long run, capacity would remain essentially unchanged, but the market would shift from US to WN.

We've been discussing this very notion over in Industry News: Impact of Airline Consolidation.

 

[mweiss]

Based on Fly's description, IAD is to the East Coast what SFO is to the West Coast, in terms of UA operations. Now, whereas the West Coast has SFO and LAX, UA has no southeast hub. CLT makes an acceptable choice, though its O&D pales in comparison to LAX...or ATL for that matter. But ATL's taken, and there's really no other cities in that part of the country that make sense as possible coastal hubs for UA.

 

[IberiaMAL]

Mornings to Mexico City, Caribbean, Bejing and Narita, Afternoons Europe (Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Zurich, Geneva, Rome, Frankfurt (3), Brussels, Paris, Munich...complete?). Evenings to Kuwait, Dubai, Sao Paulo to Rio and Buenos Aires. A fairly big domestic feed. (feel free to update those cities I forgot).

I don't believe United has over 300 daily flights. Probably around 250 flights?

 

[mweiss]

CLT competes directly with ATL for SE US market share. Expansion there, mostly international.

Sounds reasonable

PHL and IAD, very close geographically with IAD having easier airspace and runway access. Expect PHL drawdown, especially overlap international. PHL becomes mostly domestic connects with a few major intl.
DCA=shuttle and domestic ops. High yield O&D, no worries.

Remember that DCA doesn't allow long-distance flights, so those would also have to come out of IAD. And keeping both DCA and IAD is probably the longest shot of the whole deal. It was a major sticking point last time (remember DCAir?). I doubt the notion has become any more palatable since.

...most PHX pacific connections transferred to SFO.

Minor quibble, but I'd bet on more of those flights moving to LAX, than to SFO. LAX has far better operations, bigger O&D, and is geographically more in line with PHX than is SFO.

 

[700UW]

PHL is US' number 1 revenue generating station, it wont go anywhere in a merger.

And there are beyond perimeter slots in DCA

 

[Poug Darker]

Remember that DCA doesn't allow long-distance flights, so those would also have to come out of IAD. And keeping both DCA and IAD is probably the longest shot of the whole deal. It was a major sticking point last time (remember DCAir?). I doubt the notion has become any more palatable since.

I agree that PHX is done with a merger. As you say, timing is important. Keep ops going for a year or two, then...Oh! It's not making money and is redundant....better close it down (sound familiar?). I also agree that most PHX will go to the west coast, as you stated, LAX probably...
As for DCA, the O&D government travel up and down the coast supports it nicely. Doesn't need any TA flying, people in the area are very accustomed to the idea that if you want to go across the pond, IAD is it. There is even metro service out there. Addressing government approval, well, the last time this was tried, USAirways had major operations in both DCA and BWI. United had IAD. The DOJ said that the citizens of the DC metro area (which includes Baltimore, Washington DC, and the surrounding area) would have no choice but to fly on the merged carrier if approved. Since USAirways gave BWI to LUV, the good citizens have a low-cost choice (or maybe two or three) when traveling in or out of the Washington DC Metro area. The trick for the managements of the two companies is to make the DOJ believe that there is a crisis iminent, such as a bankruptcy. And if this doesn't pass review in short order, then lots of JOBS will be lost....for the O administration, jobs are 'front and center' as far as national attention goes. I predict if presented in this way, passage is assured.
cheers.

 

[Poug Darker]

PHL is US' number 1 revenue generating station, it wont go anywhere in a merger.

And there are beyond perimeter slots in DCA

True, but IAD is much more efficient from an airspace and real estate outlook for connecting to international flying. I would think that O&D PHL flights domestically would remain, but the international would be reduced and consolidated with IAD. This would reduce the amount of stuff the airlines try to fit into PHL's 5 lb bag everyday from about 15lbs to 7.
I don't think DCA flying would be affected much at all, since it is not a hub, but a focus city with a large O&D market.
cheers.

 

[USA320Pilot]

United, US Air Talks 'Very Serious': Report

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10722608/1/united-us-air-talks-very-serious-report.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Regards,

USA320Pilot