CAL Talks Merger with AMR

[Double Shot]

I am surprised that no one has brought up the potential that if one of these mega carriers would fail, it would leave a huge vacuum of unemployment, service and lift.

Habib, I was flying with an old cal scab (actually he was a crawlback) who said something that made me think.

"I am a scab, but I am also figured out what alpa was truly all about 25 years before people today are realizing
what they represent".

That led into a fairly interesting and heated conversation and reflection of alpa transgressions onto their own membership which are undeniable. I don't agree with his decision to cross a picket line and said so. His reply?

"It is hard to honor a union that doesn't honor it's own commitments and value it's own membership"

P.S. REZ, yes alpa national salaries did come into the discussion.

The Scabs will say anything to justify their position. They say it so much that they actually believe what they say.

J.T. over there at Cal actually believes he is not a scab. He is the biggest piece of shiit to ever fly an airplane.

 

[bendover]

if continental merges they will be stapled just like the AAholes did to the TWA pilots. AA eat thier own.

 

[Kugelblitz]

if continental merges they will be stapled just like the AAholes did to the TWA pilots. AA eat thier own.

As a TWA furloughee from AA and now at CAL since Jan 06, that means that I will furlough myself!!

 

[bizicmo]

Maybe your AA number will give you a better spot then your CAL number on the new list. Maybe you can combine the two numbers.

 

[Furloughed80]

And why exactly would CAL pilots be stapled? If worst comes to worst it would be arbitrated by a 3rd party per a recently passed bill.

 

[whatitdoing?]

i'm in my happy place, i'm in my happy place, i'm in my happy place, i'm in my happy place..............

 

[aa73]

And why exactly would CAL pilots be stapled? If worst comes to worst it would be arbitrated by a 3rd party per a recently passed bill.

You wouldn't be stapled, unless the neutral arbitrator decides it. Disregard the poster.

73

 

[eaglefly]

My guess is UAL is still the merger partner for CAL. Aside from regulatory issues, I think the only reason AA is interested is to either drive up the price of UAL's cost and/or have pics at some of the assets that are shed to remain competitive (and also smooth a UAL/CAL humping party).

Of course it MIGHT be that AMR knows if somehow IT could get CAL, then UAL could very well have no merger partner left and everyone knows UAL HAS to find a good merger partner or they will likely be history in a few years (especially if everyone else is in the sack with each other and they're left dry humping a chair leg).

 

[Andy]

I am surprised that no one has brought up the potential that if one of these mega carriers would fail, it would leave a huge vacuum of unemployment, service and lift.

... huge vacuum for about a week. That'd be how long it'd take for the defunct MegaAirlines planes to be repainted into a new airline's livery (we'll call the new airline Limbo Air, since it will lower the bar for wages and ticket prices).
It'll also take a week or so for many of the now unemployed MegaAirlines pilots to be fitted into new Limbo Air uniforms and checked out in the sim on Limbo Air's procedures.

Since there are near zero barriers to entry into the airline industry and this is merely a commodity business, an entrepeneur by the name of Lank Frorenzo bought MegaCarrier's operating certificate and was able to get backing from Wall Street to the tune of $150 Mil. Lank went ahead and negotiated with the aircraft lessors of MegaAirlines and was able to lease the most beat up aircraft for 75% of what the normal going rate is. Mayors of multiple cities, worried about empty gate space due to the departure of MegaAirlines, offered Lank and his new airline a sweetheart deal to lease the gates.

Lank Frorenzo chose the name Limbo Air because he found that he was constantly asking a single question to negotiate many items for his new airline. That phrase is: 'How low can you go?'
For pilot interviews, Lank only had one question, and it was in regard to a pilot's salary - How low can you go? You'd be surprised at how low they can go.
For ticket prices, that was the question that Lank asked the customer. The customer simply answered, "Lower than Greyhound."

And don't forget that prior to MegaAirlines going out of business, multiple carriers added extra capacity to compete with MegaAirlines' routes. By the time that MegAirlines went out of business, their load factors dropped off significantly, so Limbo Air didn't have a huge void to fill.

Yeah, the loss of a mega carrier would leave a huge vacuum of unemployment, service and lift. Not.

 

[Andy]

Of course it MIGHT be that AMR knows if somehow IT could get CAL, then UAL could very well have no merger partner left and everyone knows UAL HAS to find a good merger partner or they will likely be history in a few years (especially if everyone else is in the sack with each other and they're left dry humping a chair leg).

???? You actually believe that merge or die stuff?
Wow. Then Frontier, JetBlue, AirTran, and USAirways must already be dead because they're much smaller than UAL.

Personally, I hope that UAL doesn't merge. Perhaps they'll be smart enough to expand into those areas where newly merged airlines are forced to reduce route overlap.

 

[Jonny Sacko]

I think this is all because Tilton opened his mouth saying they are going to let the boys fight over them. What an idiot. From there CAL(kellner and crew) have no option but to shake it up. Tilton just cut off his arm. I bet kellner said, fine you stay alone or go with someone else, we're just fine on our own. WE'RE MAKING MONEY! Tilton really is a cancer. He should be put down quickly. No parachute, he simply robbed, and stole. Common Criminal. CAL management would be the best for the combined carrier. I don't think anyone would deny that. But this idiot spouting off is helping NO ONE.

 

[Andy]

I think this is all because Tilton opened his mouth saying they are going to let the boys fight over them. What an idiot. From there CAL(kellner and crew) have no option but to shake it up. Tilton just cut off his arm. I bet kellner said, fine you stay alone or go with someone else, we're just fine on our own. WE'RE MAKING MONEY! Tilton really is a cancer. He should be put down quickly. No parachute, he simply robbed, and stole. Common Criminal. CAL management would be the best for the combined carrier. I don't think anyone would deny that. But this idiot spouting off is helping NO ONE.

??? Do you have a reference to this? He said something along the lines that any merge would have to make sense to all of UAL's stakeholders. Since UAL's stakeholders include employees, I don't consider that to be a bad sign. Last paragraph of this link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_unitedfeb07,0,140358.story

I hate defending Tilton, it seems that most have a very short memory as to how dire straits UAL was in when he took over. No one wanted the job. Almost everyone, including myself, did not expect UAL to survive. SARS trashed UAL's Pacific load factors. Independence Air was sticking a knife in UAL's gut at Dulles. There were several threads about which UAL assets would go to which company - AMR to take the Pacific routes, someone else to get the LHR slots, etc.
Yes, we can say that he achieved all of this on the backs of the employees' sacrifices. But he was also able to get enough capital investment into UAL to keep the company alive during the darkest hours. He sold off some assets - slots and planes - but fortunately kept the airline largely intact to survive the downturn.
Was he overpaid? Unquestionably. Unfortunately, that's the way of today's corporate America. If you want to look for bad CEOs, you need to take a look at Countrywide's Angelo Mozilo - he makes Tilton look like a freaking saint.

 

[Tomct]

Continental also held talks with American
By Justin Baer in New York
Friday Feb 15 2008 14:30
Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL) , the US carrier that has had merger discussions with United Airlines, also has held talks with another rival, AMR (NYSE:AMR) , parent of American Airlines.
A person familiar with the matter described Continental's talks with AMR as preliminary, and said the airline was not close to an agreement with United.
Continental and AMR spokesmen both declined comment.
Record fuel costs and an expected slump in demand for air travel have driven many of the biggest US carriers to consider merging with a rival. Delta Air Lines is nearing an agreement with Northwest Airlines, people famliar with the negotiations say. The deal is expected to touch off a wave of consolidation within the industry, as carriers seek to lower costs and extend their service networks.
American has been largely left out of many of the consolidation scenarios pondered by industry executives, bankers and investors. The conventional wisdom was that American's status as the world's largest airline made any proposed deal a tough sell to antitrust regulators.
American and its pilots also appear far from an agreement on a new contract. A testy relationship with organised labour may make it impossible to secure support for a major merger, and leaders of the pilots union have already said they would be against such a move.
Nevertheless, some industry insiders were never convinced that American, feared by its peers in the years that followed deregulation in 1978 as the most aggressive and, at times, most ruthless competitor, would stand idle as its four biggest competitors merged around them.
Continental and Chicago-based United had held talks a year ago, after US Airways had launched a hostile bid for Delta, then still in bankruptcy. While Delta did fend off that bid to emerge from credit protection as an independent company, Continental and United executives kept in touch on a potential tie-up, the people said.
As Delta's talks with Northwest turned more serious, Continental and United's also gained steam.

Man I sure hope NOT. That would be a BAD DEAL for CAL!!!