AirTran, Midwest Merger DEAD!

[Ty Webb]

This is no buyout offer.

TPG Capital, L.P. ("TPG") is pleased to submit the following indication
of interest for an acquisition by TPG of Midwest Air Group, Inc., a
Wisconsin corporation (the "Company"), for $16.00 in cash for each share
of the Company's common stock.

Puh-lease. That is about as solid as a PHL taxiway on a 95-degree day . . . . I can't believe that our management can play so well at the table against our weak-dick union, and then be played for fools by SWA, NWA, and even little bitty MEH.

On the plus side, I think that most of the AAI FO's will be happy at this news . . . . those that haven't already firmed up their own "exit plan".

I think this also signals the beginning of the countdown for the end of MEH. I give it two years, three at best.

.

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

Well I bet JL feels like a fool now. After he bullied Boeing and Airbus in 2003 into giving him the "best price" for 100 aircraft order, he thought the same will apply to Midwest. The way these guys negotiate is: "We'll give you 100 bucks and you give us your airline. That's our first offer, let's start working from here".
That was their first mistake - being cheap and hopping for the best, the second is gonna be their pilot group walking out on a strike and shutting down this airline for a couple of days causing unrepairable damage to the company.
The final one will be SW takeover and dismantling of AirTran. An airline career that should have ended with a burning DC10 at the end of the runway at ORD, will end with thousands of lost jobs at AAI.

 

[Ty Webb]

An airline career that should have ended with a burning DC10 at the end of the runway at ORD, will end with thousands of lost jobs at AAI.

Now, now . . . don't despair. All is not lost. Management still has the opportunity to channel Ty Webb down to MCO to straighten this crap out. In short- Spirit merger- yes. Frontier- yes. Eastern name- yes. Tabor- gone. Carol - gone. Laura, Skipper and Allen - gone. (you knew the Co had the controls, right?) New pricing, based on web-based auction software. Bid for your seat, pay more for a reservation, less at time of departure, a real, live, market-baed approach to selling tickets. Welcome to the millenium . . . . only 7 years too late.

New future, new beginning, new CEO . . . . Ty Webb.

Thank ya, Thank ya very much . . . . . .


.

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

New future, new beginning, new CEO . . . . Ty Webb.

Now that would make a nice bag sticker!

 

[Eagle757shark]

AirTran really needed this deal more than Midwest. I think that is what is lost in this whole ordeal.(no matter how people will try to spin it today) When AirTran lost out on the ATA deal, Midwest was there back up. AirTran is limited on gate space in Atlanta. So the question still remains, what happens next? Does the company attempt a merger with another low-cost carrier or become a possible takeover option for a legacy? AirTran has a good presence in Atlanta and a strong presence on the east coast and Florida. Could these things bring a possible buyer to Orlando? Are Frontier or even Alaska possible partners? I will say it shall be one hell of an ending to 2007. (Couldn't write a better cliffhanger)

 

[Ty Webb]

Are Frontier or even Alaska possible partners? I will say it shall be one hell of an ending to 2007. (Couldn't write a better cliffhanger)

Joe L. told my recurrent class last year that we did approach Alaska (as had been rumored). He said they basically " . . . didn't know who we were, and weren't interested in talking with us".

I guess that means the merger is imminent . . . !

Seriously, I think that Frontier is waiting in the wings, and possibly Spirit and/or Allegiant, but who knows. People talk a lot about fleets, but leases were meant to be broken . . . . . it's like trading in a car . . . . . honest Habib will take that lease off your hands if you only step up and buy an all-new Itchipussi 900 with sunroof and moonboots.

/

 

[GOULET!]

Couldn't have said it any better Fly-By-Cable. JL is a tool who shouldn't be anywhere near the head of an airline. Wouldn't want to be around him tomorrow morning. Very glad that this deal with AirTran fell through. Going to be very interesting to see what role NWA actually has in this and what comes of it. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that NW was at least 1 of the interested parties. Classic example of defending their home court. I do agree with CaptainJerky that MKE could be in serious trouble with MSP and DTW so close.

 

[deadstick]

A lot of the scare tactics used by Baghdad Carol in this Midwest/AirTran saga centered on them claiming service would suffer and the Wisconsin traveler would lose out. I believed AirTran wanted to noticeably expand operations in MKE and in the end generate many more, and yet cheaper, travel options.
That said, what are the feelings on how Northwest would change MKE? Since they're presumably doing this to deny AirTran/ buy a troublesome competitor (Midwest), how do you all think this affects MKE and Wisconsin travelers? Northwest has 2 hubs (MSP and DET) within what, 300 miles of there? They're not doing this to build up another hub. I'd be worried that they in fact strip down MKE and only keep enough real estate to appear to be fending off AirTran. Maybe AAI execs figure MKE will get slashed and burned and there'll be gate space available soon there anyway!
I have no opinion or stake in Northwest, so I'm not trying to start a "they suck/they rule" thread, but I'm concerned that this is bad in the long run for the passengers, and creates career worries for Midwest pilots and employees.

Yea, me thinks growth for Midwest/Skyway just came to a screeching halt. Maybe just enough to keep the AirTran growth at MKE at bay, but that is it.

On the surface, it was a good deal that even JL's 3 board members apparnetly supported. All cash. It's souinds likethe quick cash-out solution and not a long-term one.

What do people think about the anti-trust issue?

One more thing. I like JL's spin "AirTran said earlier on Sunday it was walking away from its hostile bid to acquire Midwest in light of the rival takeover offer. " Ummm...it was voted down 9-0, right.

 

[GOULET!]

Officially I believe AirTran "walked away" before the deal with the equity firm went through so the 3 AirTran board members would have been stupid to not vote for it. From a shareholder's standpoint this deal is far better than AirTran's because it is all cash. I don't necessarily agree that growth at Midwest/Skyway will stop however what remains to be seen is exactly how big of a role NWA has invested with the equity firm.

Leave it up to Joe Leonard for the positive spin. Just like he was saying last week that it was a 90% done deal. Would bet he has some pretty pissed off employee's to talk to tomorrow.

 

[deadstick]

Officially I believe AirTran "walked away" before the deal with the equity firm went through so the 3 AirTran board members would have been stupid to not vote for it. From a shareholder's standpoint this deal is far better than AirTran's because it is all cash. I don't necessarily agree that growth at Midwest/Skyway will stop however what remains to be seen is exactly how big of a role NWA has invested with the equity firm.

Leave it up to Joe Leonard for the positive spin. Just like he was saying last week that it was a 90% done deal. Would bet he has some pretty pissed off employee's to talk to tomorrow.

This was in the new update:

"Discount carrier AirTran, Orlando, Fla., had raised its cash-and-stock bid to $15.75 a share, or about $431 million, from $15 in the competition for Midwest. But it said Sunday night that it threw in the towel after the Midwest board rejected its offer."