BA, Quantas, Iberia to Merge

[atpcliff]

Hi!

CEO just sent me the press release. BA and Quantas are merging, and they are trying to add Iberia to the mix.

BA is having pension troubles.

cliff
YIP

 

[AAflyer]

It gets better, the second our government changes their policy you can though AA in there a well.


Good times:erm:

AA

 

[EuroWheenie]

BA has been trying to merge with IB for a long time, but the Spanish have baulked at BA's pension deficit, demanding a larger piece of the pie. Those talks stalled, and IB had the fortune of being told about the proposed merger with Qantas (no u in that name btw) one hour prior to press release. Suffice to say, our Spanish friends were less than impressed.

Some say BA only started talking to QF to get talks with IB jump-started; seems that tactic may have back-fired, as IB allegedly have thrown their toys out the pram and are having a bit of a hissy fit. As for BA and QF merging; what's the point? They're literally at opposite ends of the world, and any cooperation would be severly limited by the huge geographical distance.

As for AA and BA merging, that'll happen the day US opens it's airline for more than 50% foreign ownership, which is to say around the same time we'll enjoy having 2 fridays every week.

BA are, seemingly, incapable of a) finding someone suitable to merge with or b) unable to follow through once they've found a worthy partner.

Compare that, if you please, to how Lufthansa is going about the merger business. They're now the owners of Swiss, BMI and Austrian, and will soon be the owners of Brussels Airlines as well. Less talk, more action.