(sigh)
If Steenland
was the guy making the decisions on all of this...I might be worried. Since he isn't, I sleep better.
Speaking of sleeping, I bet you got a lot of it during the "corporate governance" lecture in Econ, eh?
Wow, a sim guy who knows everything....... A
lot of sim guys are scared to fly, and enjoy the power of the control panel in the sim, but can't figure out why they can't stop the motion in the actual plane. Are you one of those my know it all friend? Anyway, here is an article from Seeking Alpa (?) which has it's own opinion on how this will go down.....
Will Delta Agree to Northwest's Offer Without Pilot Consent?
posted on:
April 02, 2008 | about stocks:
DAL /
NWA
Over the last few days it has been reported that Northwest Airlines (
NWA) has been in discussions with Delta Airlines (
DAL) regarding moving forward with a merger without an agreement between the companies' respective pilots unions. As
noted in previous updates, the tactic of obtaining pilot consent
before reaching a formal merger agreement is an oddity, yet it appears to have been somewhat of a necessity in this particular case. Given DAL's position in the industry -- both in terms of longevity and market standing -- the pilot seniority issue is more critical in this deal than perhaps any airline deal in the past. The sheer number of DAL pilots that will be affected by this potential combination makes this deal unique and not in a positive sense.
Thus, attempts to move forward with this transaction without a formal pilots agreement in place seem to be misguided and, in many ways, an
act of desperation on NWA's part. Perhaps the concept is to forcibly motivate the pilots into an agreement via reaching a formal merger agreement in the near future. Unfortunately, the original tactic of obtaining pilot consent beforehand has essentially resulted in what appears to be -- at least at this juncture -- an unreasonable impasse.
Again, this publication feels that the pilots can eventually reach a mutually agreeable settlement (as occurs in virtually every airline transaction), but the concept that a formal merger agreement will expedite this is very much flawed. In fact, it could very well result in the opposite outcome desired by the companies.
At this point, it is not believed that DAL will agree to a formal merger agreement with NWA, regardless of terms, while its pilots union remains unhappy with the seniority list provisions. Until the pilots can work out the issue on their own, as originally planned, DAL is much better off rejecting any offer NWA proposes.
Disclosure: We have no positions of any kind, in any security. We are a completely neutral source of research and analysis.
Bye Bye--General Lee
