US Airways as a merger partner

[nostradamus]

"The one major area of difficulty that this merger has is what will be done about the labor situations at both carriers. Employees at both Northwest and US Airways have just cause to be angry at their management due to past failings, and unfortunately, a merger will lead to additional job cuts. What cannot be done, however, is treat employees in such a manner that hurts them more than what is inevitable. For instance, after the US Airways/America West merger, many US Air pilots were very upset by the way the two seniority systems at the companies were integrated, partly due to the questionable decision of an arbitrator. It left the pilots angry, and a similar incident cannot happen again if this merger occurs. Management at both companies need to ensure that the two sets of employees reach amicable conclusions."

Airline Bulletin article

 

[zethya]

"The one major area of difficulty that this merger has is what will be done about the labor situations at both carriers. Employees at both Northwest and US Airways have just cause to be angry at their management due to past failings, and unfortunately, a merger will lead to additional job cuts. What cannot be done, however, is treat employees in such a manner that hurts them more than what is inevitable. For instance, after the US Airways/America West merger, many US Air pilots were very upset by the way the two seniority systems at the companies were integrated, partly due to the questionable decision of an arbitrator. It left the pilots angry, and a similar incident cannot happen again if this merger occurs. Management at both companies need to ensure that the two sets of employees reach amicable conclusions."

Airline Bulletin article

I allege the author of this newsletter posts frequently and ostentatiously on A-net and is a Deltoid extraordinaire. Regarding his discussion about a potential US-NW merger, he is so confused about the current/future route structure of (at least) US Airways, that the entire article has no credibility. Note: He has PHX completely mixed up with PHL.

 

[gaucho99]

Airline Bulletin article

The article brings out some good points. Maybe the DOJ will reject DL-NW and DL-UA becuse of the massive airlines they would become. But a NW-US would have fewer regulatory hurdles and would be about the same size as AA.

 

[bigbusboy]

Actually the article reads as if the writer is a ninth grader who's daddy is a pilot for Delta. A NW/US merger is highly unlikely. Just like a US/UA merger is as well. The only point in this article that is true is US being left out of the pending merger frenzie. And this might be a good thing.

 

[usramperTPA]

Actually the article reads as if the writer is a ninth grader who's daddy is a pilot for Delta. A NW/US merger is highly unlikely. Just like a US/UA merger is as well. The only point in this article that is true is US being left out of the pending merger frenzie. And this might be a good thing.

US being left out of the merger picture could be a good thing. If there is a reduction in capacity, the remaining carriers may get some added revenue, due to less competition. Also, any large transactions will have to satisfy the DOJ by shedding some assets and eliminating overlap. Good chance to pickup routes and A/C. And, theoretically, we can gain Passengers simply by other carriers cutting their service due to consolidation. We are still poised to take advantage of many East Coast markets that would surely lose frequency in DL/UA consolidation. A DL/NW deal could open up many west coast and mid-America possiblilities, not to mention a possible selloff of any of the NW Airbus fleet due to incompatibility with the DL fleet. We have come so far and been through so much as USAirways, it would be a shame to get gobbled up at this point. Maybe sitting this round out, we may be able to fight another day, a little healthier.

 

[LD3]

US being left out of the merger picture could be a good thing. If there is a reduction in capacity, the remaining carriers may get some added revenue, due to less competition. Also, any large transactions will have to satisfy the DOJ by shedding some assets and eliminating overlap. Good chance to pickup routes and A/C. And, theoretically, we can gain Passengers simply by other carriers cutting their service due to consolidation. We are still poised to take advantage of many East Coast markets that would surely lose frequency in DL/UA consolidation. A DL/NW deal could open up many west coast and mid-America possiblilities, not to mention a possible selloff of any of the NW Airbus fleet due to incompatibility with the DL fleet. We have come so far and been through so much as USAirways, it would be a shame to get gobbled up at this point. Maybe sitting this round out, we may be able to fight another day, a little healthier.

If this were to happen, I hope Tempe does not continue their current mindset of failing to deliver an improved customer product.

 

[twoturnin]

With the N award laying around as a claymore mine so to speak----the seriousness of the senority issues leaves me with only one way for PHX to go---selling off parts of the company---unless the WEST blinks and goes for some kind of conditions agreement we are never going to get this thing settled no matter how much cost is offered--my .02$

 

[Sam Sellers]

I wrote the article, and I think the criticisms people on the board brought up are fair, though I would appreciate a bit more detail about the PHL/PHX mixup. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that, and if you give me more information, perhaps I can fix it. Moreover, I agree with the poster who mentioned the unliklihood of a Northwest/US Airways deal. I think that's a fair point, given that some insiders are saying NW/DL merger talks are far advanced. I do think it's unfortunate, however, that a NW/US deal isn't being discussed as a possible option, because NW and US complement each other quite nicely.

Also, for the record, I don't post on Airliners.net because I'm too cheap to subscribe. I'm not an industry insider, and I don't have any family members who work at airlines. I do this because I enjoy it, and for the record, I'm doing these posts along with six college classes, which creates a substantial amount of work in my life. So if I make a mistake, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix it.

Thanks!
-Sam Sellers

 

[nostradamus]

I wrote the article, and I think the criticisms people on the board brought up are fair, though I would appreciate a bit more detail about the PHL/PHX mixup. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that, and if you give me more information, perhaps I can fix it. Moreover, I agree with the poster who mentioned the unliklihood of a Northwest/US Airways deal. I think that's a fair point, given that some insiders are saying NW/DL merger talks are far advanced. I do think it's unfortunate, however, that a NW/US deal isn't being discussed as a possible option, because NW and US complement each other quite nicely.

Also, for the record, I don't post on Airliners.net because I'm too cheap to subscribe. I'm not an industry insider, and I don't have any family members who work at airlines. I do this because I enjoy it, and for the record, I'm doing these posts along with six college classes, which creates a substantial amount of work in my life. So if I make a mistake, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix it.

Thanks!
-Sam Sellers

Good article, do not listen to critics anymore. Your writing is good, damn the literate snobs who punctuate well but ignore the reality of original thought.

"Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts."

Ernest Hemingway

 

[BoeingBoy]

though I would appreciate a bit more detail about the PHL/PHX mixup. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that, and if you give me more information, perhaps I can fix it.

I certainly don't want to put words in the mouth of the poster that made the comment, but I think it concerned your mention of international expansion together with PHX. The assumption seems to be that you were saying that the international expansion has been and will continue to be from the PHX hub.

Personally, I thought you might have meant that US was expanding internationally and that PHX would play a future role in that expansion (as has been mentioned by senior management).

Jim