SWA buys ATA

[roughneck]

Expect this to be announced soon. Had a company VP on the js this morning and that is what he said anyway.

He also said expect a European codeshare announcement with Lufthansa in the Fall.

 

[AC560]

He also said expect a European codeshare announcement with Lufthansa in the Fall.

Does Southwest fly into any airport serviced by LH, I can't think of any.

 

[Old School 737]

Swa

Does Southwest fly into any airport serviced by LH, I can't think of any.

LAX is one!

 

[roughneck]

IAD is another one I believe.

 

[pilotgolfer]

Ok...enlighten me. Why the hell would SWA buy ATA??

 

[roughneck]

15 737's, etops, hawaii, and a few gates elsewhere. We are filling their planes as it is. Why not make all the revenue instead of just a code share portion?

They have been restructured to model SWA. Why not?

BTW, I am just repeating what I was told this morning. It is no secret we need some debt to keep any potential LBO's away. We had hoped for the Delta Shuttle, but it looks like a long shot now. This may be plan B.

 

[Skyboy722]

Ok...enlighten me. Why the hell would SWA buy ATA??

I don't really see the sense in it either.

 

[Whine Lover]

Buying ATA as a whole doesn't make sense due to dissimilar fleets and operations... 757's, DC-10's, L-1011's all doing Miltary/Charter work.

HOWEVER, an asset acquisition of the Codeshare, scheduled service routes/gates, and the 737 A/C certainly would make sense.

Do any of you really think that SWA inserted their man John Denison as the CEO of ATA just for the fun of it? Also, SWA has been in financial bed with the owners of ATA, Matlin-Patterson, for years.

This has all been carefully structured ( with Matlin-Patterson/ATA/John Denison ) over the last 2 years.

Now, let's see if it really happens...or maybe the VP in question just wanted to see how long it would take for his dis-information to hit FlightInfo?

LOL.



YKW

 

[Tomct]

What will happen to the 757's? Or are all of those gone? Wasn't ATA going to buy some DC-10's from Northwest?

 

[humuakalaka]

Sounds plausible to me. However, it there is any veracity to it, why would this VP at SWA be be letting the cat out of the bag to some line pilot?

 

[Whine Lover]

Methinks Roughneck was bored today and wanted to have some fun...(?)


YKW

 

[Whine Lover]

From the AFA Union E-mail:

DC-10 Update

"ATA will receive 9 DC-10s from Northwest, 7 of which we will
operate and 2 being saved for parts. These aircraft are
"Third-hand Roses". In the mid-70's four were acquired by
Swissair, 2 by Korean Air and the last started with Varig in
1980.

Interesting Historic Factoids about these A/C . . . . the former
Swissair N223NW accumulated a total of 131,045 hours and 28,861
cycles and is believed to be the aircraft with the highest
number of flying hours, ever..."


YKW

 

[GuppyWN]

From the AFA Union E-mail:


Interesting Historic Factoids about these A/C . . . . the former
Swissair N223NW accumulated a total of 131,045 hours and 28,861
cycles and is believed to be the aircraft with the highest
number of flying hours, ever..."


YKW

WOW! That's 15 years of flight time. Every hour of every day for 15 straight years.

Incredible.
Gup

 

[elcid]

No way this is legit. Do you really think SWA execs are going to spill the beans on the jumpseat and release info via FO's on flightinfo. That would be the stupidest, most unprofessional thing I've ever seen. This is flame bait, pure and simple. Why are we even discussing this?

 

[LUVChild]

Expect this to be announced soon. Had a company VP on the js this morning and that is what he said anyway.

He also said expect a European codeshare announcement with Lufthansa in the Fall.

LOL!

Seeing as how this VP had no problem announcing our purchase of another airline to some random pilot he just met, I'm sure you won't mind telling us which SWA VP it was?

I've got to agree with a previous poster. This smells of flamebait.

Now, had the USAir purchase of Delta gone through, I could see a Southwest purchase of ATA being in the cards. But for the time being, there's really no logical reason to do so. Gary's a smart guy, and he realizes all the hassle a merger/acquisition brings with it. I don't think he'd do it unless he felt we had no other option.

 

[atafan]

No, this is a legit story. A SWA F/A told me the same story it must be true!

 

[Whine Lover]

I LOVE (LUV?) Kooky Town!

"Take me down, to Kooky Town. Take me down, to Kooky Town..."

It's HAPPEN'In Mofo's...


N

O

T

Or Maybe...

"Mommy, can I have a Biscuit?"


YKW

 

[roughneck]

I was just repeating what I was told. We will see where it goes.

 

[swa737-700]

I was just repeating what I was told. We will see where it goes.

OK. Which VP told you this info? Simple question.

Did they ask to keep their identity secret?

 

[Whine Lover]

Fair question.

R-Neck? Ball's in your court...


YKW

 

[Whine Lover]

He-he....HE said "Ball's".

 

[atafan]

I know most of you guys think that buying ATA is just "plain nuts", but don't concentrate too much on the direct action of the actual purchase. If SWA bought ATA, SWA would be only interested in the international capability they would instantly obtain.

ATA could be operated as a separate international entity providing SWA with worldwide service on the cheap.

I know you SWA pilots will have your nips all bunched up because of your scope clause and believe me the ATA pilots would support you. Let's be honest, sometime down the road ATA and SWA will greatly increase their involvement and to tell the difference between the two will be harder and harder to see.

No need for SWA to purchase ATA now because SWA basically controls ATA, everyday we see more and more of SWA's fingerprints. The time will come when Matlin Patterson decides to cash out and take their profit.

Both pilot's union should and are in communication together trying to understand this codeshare agreement and possible acquisition.

Time will tell.

 

[Pickle]

.

I know you SWA pilots will have your nips all bunched up because of your scope clause and believe me the ATA pilots would support you.

Does SWAPA have a scope clause in it's contract??

 

[Jim Smyth]

I hope its true. I would be honored to have the ATA Pilots join Southwest Airlines!

 

[GuppyWN]

Me too.

While I doubt it's gonna happen how many pilots do you guys have now?

Gup

 

[atafan]

We have around 500 pilots currently flying, I'm not sure how many are on furlough.

 

[SWAdude]

I just got off the phone from the VP of Bullsh!t and it is confirmed.

DC-10 sim arrived in DAL today.

 

[AlbieF15]

Actually, the VP said he was firing all the HR staff in recruitment and replacing them with former fighter pilots. "Why hire anyone we don't know off the street anyway?" and "what's up with these HR chicks telling pilots who they should share a cockpit with anyway" were some of the recurring themes.

(yank yank nudge nudge)

 

[Jim Smyth]

I have recently flown with a few of the ATA guys that got hired with us. Great guys to work with and we need more! It would be great to bring the guys back that have been furloughed.

 

[CaptSeth]

Wow. This thread hasn't deteriorated into an seniority list integration hatefest yet. Must be a record.