US Airways Unions OK Lakefield's Revamp Strategy
Greg Levine, 09.15.05, 4:29 PM Et
NEW YORK - Call it the balance of the universe: One day after Delta Air Lines (nyse: DAL - news - people ) and Northwest Airlines (nasdaq: NWAC - news - people ) each filed for Chapter 11 protection, another major legacy saw its way out get clearer.
US Airways (otc: UAIRQ - news - people ) on Thursday announced that its unions had relented on two points that stood in the way of acceptance of the carrier's revamping plans.
Led by Chief Executive Bruce Lakefield, the airline had declared bankruptcy twice in three years. The temper of management-employee relations grew ragged during these years, inflamed by the news that the carrier, like United parent UAL (otc: UALAQ - news - people ), was terminating its pension plan--and wasn't soothed by jests from Chairman David Bronner that he halfway hoped his firm would go belly-up.
But one of the few core laws of the cosmos is that things change.
On Wednesday, Lakefield's firm trumpeted that creditors OK'd its bankruptcy restructuring plan, most importantly the acquisition of the carrier by America West Holdings (nyse: AWA - news - people ). Lakefield's grand strategy involves reshaping the firm along the lines of discounters like Southwest Airlines (nyse: LUV - news - people ) and JetBlue (nasdaq: JBLU - news - people ).
And on Thursday, US Airways' unions--perhaps smelling change in the air, or maybe just shuddering at the seeming impotence of striking Northwest mechanics--had a change of heart. The issues the workers' reps conceded: scaling back the employee profit-sharing plan and giving up the idea of a unionist seat on the board of the combined airlines. One more hearing to go, tussling over a management-retention package, and Lakefield's firm may emerge from bankruptcy.
Too soon to say if things are better at US Airways--but at any rate, they're different. More...
Greg Levine, 09.15.05, 4:29 PM Et
NEW YORK - Call it the balance of the universe: One day after Delta Air Lines (nyse: DAL - news - people ) and Northwest Airlines (nasdaq: NWAC - news - people ) each filed for Chapter 11 protection, another major legacy saw its way out get clearer.
US Airways (otc: UAIRQ - news - people ) on Thursday announced that its unions had relented on two points that stood in the way of acceptance of the carrier's revamping plans.
Led by Chief Executive Bruce Lakefield, the airline had declared bankruptcy twice in three years. The temper of management-employee relations grew ragged during these years, inflamed by the news that the carrier, like United parent UAL (otc: UALAQ - news - people ), was terminating its pension plan--and wasn't soothed by jests from Chairman David Bronner that he halfway hoped his firm would go belly-up.
But one of the few core laws of the cosmos is that things change.
On Wednesday, Lakefield's firm trumpeted that creditors OK'd its bankruptcy restructuring plan, most importantly the acquisition of the carrier by America West Holdings (nyse: AWA - news - people ). Lakefield's grand strategy involves reshaping the firm along the lines of discounters like Southwest Airlines (nyse: LUV - news - people ) and JetBlue (nasdaq: JBLU - news - people ).
And on Thursday, US Airways' unions--perhaps smelling change in the air, or maybe just shuddering at the seeming impotence of striking Northwest mechanics--had a change of heart. The issues the workers' reps conceded: scaling back the employee profit-sharing plan and giving up the idea of a unionist seat on the board of the combined airlines. One more hearing to go, tussling over a management-retention package, and Lakefield's firm may emerge from bankruptcy.
Too soon to say if things are better at US Airways--but at any rate, they're different. More...
