United & US Airways?

[Dog Wonder]

If only the rest of us could have your inside knowlege, not to mention your analytical and clairvoyant skills.

Wait and see.

 

[Pacemaker]

I had the PRIVALAGE of having a former USAir CEO on one of my flights. He remembered the gal in the backs NAME from 1989!!!! Total nice guy and class act. In his words, "Mr. Parker better start showing some dividends to the shareholders. He is not doing a very good job" .

If he's a former USAir CEO then he's one to talk...
How do you think the airline got to where it did in 2005?

 

[28L_or_10R?]

If only life and the world came with an eraser. I know what I would wipe out.

I would be working on the UA ramp in PHX looking at the HP/US interline runner with pity. Took a wrong turn at the airline web site job openings, though.

 

[fudgerunyard]

If we could get back on subject for a moment...why would UAL want to hook up (deleted by moderator) LCC versus CAL??? A UAL/LCC combo would simply be a turd to the nth degree.

LCC gives UAL nothing it either doesn't already have, or could get with CAL. LCC's Transatlantic service is sub-par at best. They currently have NO service to Asia And South America service isn't even worth mentioning. East Coast USA and Caribbean is fairly good, but again, CAL brings so much more to the table than LCC. Face it, LCC is a mess thats better left to its own devices.

 

[gaucho99]

If we could get back on subject for a moment...why would UAL want to hook up with LCC versus CAL??? A UAL/LCC combo would simply be a turd to the nth degree.

LCC gives UAL nothing it either doesn't already have, or could get with CAL. LCC's Transatlantic service is sub-par at best. They currently have NO service to Asia And South America service isn't even worth mentioning. East Coast USA and Caribbean is fairly good, but again, CAL brings so much more to the table than LCC. Face it, LCC is a mess thats better left to its own devices.

I imagine UA would choose CO over LCC. Problem is, CO has shown no interest in a total merger. UA is interested in LCC if nothing more than to eliminate a competitor and reduce overcapacity. Plus, the merger would create a pretty solid airline.

 

[ggiby]

The one thing that may be keeping any merger from happening is the pilot labor/union issue. Adding another layer of complexity and potential animosity to a new merger could be keeping any potential merger party away from US Airways.

So do we let this pilot thing take us all down and onto the unemployment line???
Why can't you all just get along??? 😱

 

[Ralph]

Stick to the topic folks. Several posts have been deleted and time off has been awarded. The topic is baggage fees and the implications of merger or not for United and US Airways. If you feel compelled to discuss pilot competence, who bought who, or the nic, I strongly suggest you refrain from succumbing to that compulsion and posting anything on this thread other than the topic noted. Thanks and have a nice evening.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Fudgerunyard said: "If we could get back on subject for a moment...why would UAL want to hook up with LCC versus CAL??? A UAL/LCC combo would simply be a turd to the nth degree."

USA320Pilot comments: United might prefer merging with Continental, but the problem is Continental's Board rejected a United merger last year. Click here to read more on this subject.

Therefore, US Airways may be United's only opportunity to merge and sell the Chicago-based carrier. According to United Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells who was recently interviewed on CNBC, the point was made that United has downsized significantly and out of the nine largest U.S. airlines United was the only major air carrier with no aircraft on order. Mikells stated, "It's been known for years that United is up for sale and new aircraft orders could impede a buyer (paraphrased)."

As indicated in this topic United and US Airways continue to work together by matching IT Services, Products, and even rationalize their networks. And, the two companies are rationalizing their fleets with both companies eliminating their B737 fleets and growing their combined Airbus fleet with US Airways' new aircraft deliveries of about 150 jets.

I do not believe active corporate combination discussions are currently being held, but I do find Scott Kirby's comments in the Crew News webcast a couple of weeks ago discussing the merger subject interesting. Again, Kirby said, "In the longer term after United and Continental complete their antitrust review there will be “more opportunity (for US Airways) to work with Continentalâ€￾ and US Airways will become more “deeply embedded with United and it commits them to the domestic portion of the alliance.â€￾ Kirby continued, “it means it will have more opportunity for usâ€￾ and “don’t believe everything you read (in the media).â€￾

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[beachboy]

Well, I say shut it down. Unless we wake up tomorrow with a CNBC ALERT with Maria Bartiromo, this thread is silly. It only baits people. Close it. PS, 320 Pilot.....if you use the term unique corporate transaction at any time again you are voted off the merger island without a thought. Lord.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

....if you use the term unique corporate transaction at any time again you are voted off the merger island without a thought. Lord.

Not to be snide but I think he has already been voted off the UAL/US island, a long time ago.

His inside views on what will happen are entertaining if only fantasy.

I hope I'm proven wrong. I hope he is is right - finally - for a change.

 

[hp_fa]

USA320Pilot,

I have a question and I am not loading the question in order to trap or bait you. If you would rather you may feel free to PM me with a response if you think that your response would draw too many flames or negative activity.

The question is what does your crystal ball actually portend in the future for any LCC in connection with any merger or acquisition activity?

Like I said I am not trying to trip you up, bait you, or any otherwise commit any other nasty deed. I will say that over time I have discovered that some of the things you were discussing in the 2003-2005 time frame have proven to have more merit than I attributed back at that point in time, so my curiosity is genuine even if I may disagree.

 

[USA320Pilot]

HP_FA,

This is strictly opinion and I have no inside information regarding what may or may not occur in the future.

But, before I proceed I would like to briefly discuss points I wrote about in 2000 with what I termed the UCT and then the ICT, which unbeknown to me was called "Project Minnow" by the Executive Suites, but none of the information I previously posted about those discussions came from management.

I was able to put together many, many bits and pieces of information outside of the company to connect the dots to draw an informed opinion because I have an interest in M&A activity and I had some very good sources outside of the two companies.

As far as the future, all things being equal, in my opinion, I believe United and US Airways will try to once again to merge when the economy improves and credit becomes available with the transaction similar in scope to America West and US Airways with outside capital providing the funding. Here's why:

1. Doug Parker and Glenn Tilton are open advocates of M&A activity.

2. Under Doug Parker at America West and then US Airways he has tried 4 different merger attempts, e.g. Parker's attempt top acquire ATA, Parker merging with US Airways, Parker attempting a hostile takeover of Delta, and the widely reported discussions last spring between US Airways and United.

3. United may have preferred a deal with Continental, but Continental does not want to merge with anybody and according to the news media the Houston-based company's Board feared a merger with United could put their company in peril. Thus, there is only one legacy carrier available for United to merge with and that is US Airways (United cannot merge with Delta-Northwest or American becuase of an oligopoly and anti-trust issues).

3. I believe United Chief Financial Officer Kathryn Mikells' comment to CNBC last month that "It's been known for years that United is up for sale and new aircraft orders could impede a buyer (paraphrased)" says a lot.

4. The two companies are aligning their fleets and post merger would have B747s, B777s, A350s, A330s, A320 family, and EMB-190s with their route networks already set up to accomodate the new fleet through the domestic and Star alliance.

5. Both carriers are part of the Star Alliance and according to Scott Kirby there are significant long-term benefits for US Airways to Continental joining Star that will cause US Airways nad United to become deeply embedded; whatever that means.

6. Glenn Tilton turned 61 on April 9, 1948 and one has to wonder how many years he wants to work and if he has the desire to do all of the hard integration work required to complete a corporate combination in his mid 60s. On the other hand I believe Doug Parker and Scott Kirby thirst for a deal for them to put together one of the largest carriers in the world with a tremendous fleet and route network. In 2000 I was at a meeting with Stephen Wolf and he said United's E&FA Department believed the proposed United-US Airways merger would generate an extra $1.6 billion in revenue for the combined carrier and unspecified cost benefits.

7. I believe the combined company would be called United, the corproate headquarters would be located in Chicago, and US Airways' "executive suite would run the combined company.

8. In March Doug Parker spoke about a US Airways-United merger in a Crew News session and he indicated if the two companies merge there would likely not be anti-trust issues. Parker indicated the only DOJ concern would probabaly be in the DCA-IAD-BWI area, but he said that today is different than before because of low cost carrier expansion, Southwest and AirTran's BWI operations, and today's economic environment. Parker further indicated there were no current dicussions, but that did not stop him from talking about anti-trust issues with a United merger.

HP-FA, will a deal happen between the two comapnies? Who knows, but the airlines have tried to merge four previous times and it just seems that under Tilton and Parker's leadership the two CEO's seem to have "the urge to merge."

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[freedom]

There will be no merger because A we won't be able to find the investment (unless we do stock swaps ?) and B united will proably go bust before we do ....

If i recall doesn''t united have less cash on hand than we do and a faster bleed rate as well ? If that's the case then i expect them to liquidate before us , and then we will go down the tubes at a later time ..

 

[HPearlyretiree]

With any luck it is a precurser to other things , like emptying out the litterbox at the Sandcastle and a much hoped for merger. Time will tell. Any improvement to our pathetic IT dept and the useless Qik/Shares would be welcome. After 2 years we still don't have anything close to our yugo version of pre merger sabre. Amadeus would be a huge improvement. Why do we continue to spend untold millions on this useless system. At this point with all the money already flushed into qik/shares it would have been cheaper to keep sabre. The closer we get together , the easier it will be to "get together".

Oh please, you would be just as angry at UA as you are at US and HP. You hate your job, and you'd rather whine than find a job that makes you happy.

 

[crusher]

On the contrary . I very much enjoy my job . I just simply hate what west managememt has done to US. From poor a/c reconfigurations to degradation of inflight services to the worst res system in the history of modern aviation (still 2 years after implementation) to the revolving door employee policies to screw to passengers and driving away our best and most loyal customers. That is what I hate. Not my job. If you at one time had one of the most highly rated international service and a top quality res system and were downgraded to what we have now wouldn't you be a little pissed off? West management has brought few upgrades but many downgrades and has not hid the fact that they really don't like our passengers or employees. Nothing is ever fully thought out and usually winds up having to be done again. Employees can be your greatest asset and resource yet Tempe views us as a liability. Will Tempe ever learn? I doubt it. With this leadership it is always one step forward three steps back , so we are always a few steps behind the rest. They are the gang that can't fly straight.