Astar Pilots March again, ABX pilots???

[erichartmann]

Penguin, read my post again. On the two airline thing, I said "Of course we know that's not their problem." It's just their excuse. That's why I wonder if there's more to this "customer/vendor" relationship than meets the eye.

And that being the case hvy, I personally think we would all be facing more or less the same prospects we now face had Hete accepted Astar's "informal expression of interest", with a single exception. That exception is that ATSG (& ABX) may survive and some few jobs may be "saved". They won't be what they once were, but they will be better than being unemployed IMHO.

I think Hete recognized very early on that DHL & DPWN had no earthly idea what they were doing here in the US. That being the case his subsequent moves make some sense. They represent an effort, albeit desperate, to distance ABX (and himself) from the clearly impending disaster represented by DHL. I think the run up in fuel prices accelerated the inevitable, may have spoiled Hete's timetable, and jepardized his survival plan, but that doesn't make it foolish for him to have tried.

 

[hvydriver]

And that being the case hvy, I personally think we would all be facing more or less the same prospects we now face had Hete accepted Astar's "informal expression of interest", with a single exception. That exception is that ATSG (& ABX) may survive and some few jobs may be "saved". They won't be what they once were, but they will be better than being unemployed IMHO.

I think Hete recognized very early on that DHL & DPWN had no earthly idea what they were doing here in the US. That being the case his subsequent moves make some sense. They represent an effort, albeit desperate, to distance ABX (and himself) from the clearly impending disaster represented by DHL. I think the run up in fuel prices accelerated the inevitable, may have spoiled Hete's timetable, and jepardized his survival plan, but that doesn't make it foolish for him to have tried.

Could be Eric. Hard to say now though. If that USPS deal comes through for you guys, (rumor mill, I know.) that should go a long way toward keeping jobs for ya'll.

 

[Box-Hauler]

What's so dumb about it?

Joe accepts Astars offer and all that would have changed is ABX shareholders get a little wealthier (which I wouldn't have minded)

Remind me again, WHAT OFFER. There was a B.S. letter written, but I do not remember any offer being presented. An offer would have required a vote. No offer, no vote. It was a red herring, or a white flag, or some type of sham but it was not an offer to buy ABX Air.

Lets all get this straight once and for all, no offer was ever made, only a letter of intent. That letter and 4 quarters will get you a soda out of the machine....

 

[hvydriver]

Remind me again, WHAT OFFER. There was a B.S. letter written, but I do not remember any offer being presented. An offer would have required a vote. No offer, no vote. It was a red herring, or a white flag, or some type of sham but it was not an offer to buy ABX Air.

Lets all get this straight once and for all, no offer was ever made, only a letter of intent. That letter and 4 quarters will get you a soda out of the machine....

Dasburg had been talking with Hete since Jan of that year trying to get him to sell ABXA. That didn't work, so he went public with that "Letter of Interest" or whatever, to try to put pressure on him. Didn't work, got turned down flat, with no counter.

 

[DC8CRIVER]

Remind me again, WHAT OFFER. There was a B.S. letter written, but I do not remember any offer being presented. An offer would have required a vote. No offer, no vote. It was a red herring, or a white flag, or some type of sham but it was not an offer to buy ABX Air.

Lets all get this straight once and for all, no offer was ever made, only a letter of intent. That letter and 4 quarters will get you a soda out of the machine....

Let me get this straight Box; It's your position that Daz and DHL would not have followed through on the "letter of interest" had Hete negotiated a deal with them? I don't think that the ABX board or the ABX shareholders felt that this was a "B.S. letter". These guys don't screw around. you're fooling yourself if you think the letter was a bluff or there was no intent to follow through with this plan.

Moot point now, but we would all be in a very different place if Hete had played ball with Daz. It was the plan that Zumi had come up with to turn the U.S. ops around financially. When Hete insulted them with his response, they went to plan "B".

8

 

[bukakke]

Wait, did Zumi go to jail before or after the offer? Zumi never had a plan except to see how much he and D could syphon off before getting caught........

 

[hvydriver]

He went way after the LOI was made public. Joe had to pick up the 2+ million he paid to the analysts. I'd love to know the reasoning behind their decision to recommend not only no, but we're not even interested in proposing a counter offer. That strikes me as unusual behavior for a public company.

 

[penguin22]

I'd love to know the reasoning behind their decision to recommend not only no, but we're not even interested in proposing a counter offer.

Goldman Sachs is top drawer. Smart and savvy. Lots of inside knowledge of whats really going on in the corporate world.
Maybe they knew something. Maybe they knew that DPWN had plans with UPS all along. Maybe they told Joe if he wants ABX to survive, DON'T get tangled up with DPWN.

 

[hvydriver]

Could all be so P. I agree Goldman Sachs has a good reputation. I just find it strange that there was no explanation to the shareholders for the turn down at the next meeting. Of course, it could be nothing. After working for DHL/Astar/whatever is next, I'm a believer in black helicopters.

 

[penguin22]

But there was an explanation to shareholders. The explanation was that their Wall Street hired help advised against it.

Granted, I'm just speculating here. But If Goldman knew of DPWN's plans, they certainly aren't going to share it with ABX. But ABX can still benefit from that knowledge when they fork out the big bucks to get Goldman's recommendation on Dasburg's "offer".

Hete probably didn't know why Goldman recommended turning it down, but he's smart enough to know not to bet against Goldman Sachs