DISCUSS - Cactus/UAL Merger?

[PreContact]

Anyone know the engine types on the US/UAL/F9 A320s?

 

[PositiveRate]

I think UAL has IAE engines. Same as US West.

US East and F9 are CFM.

 

[Uniform Shop]

Originally Posted by jonjuan
What's the airline to the right of ATA in you avatar?

Think it's Allegiant.

That's it!!

 

[popgoesbubble]

What about a Continental/Alaska Merger? This would fit nicely as CO really doesn't have a strong West Coast OP and would Gain 3 Hubs to expained West Bound? fleets are fairly the same dump the MD-80s make SEA or LAX a Hub to the Far East? Both the Pilot groups are ALPA making seniority intergration So much easier (Yeah right) keep Alaska's Frequent Flyer program and allow for CO pilots to see that there really is life after living in a Crashpad in beautiful EWR!

 

[XShuttle]

I think I would hold the record for having 7 uniforms in 12 years. :nuts: (If we kept the UAL name that is)

I'll have you beat if we keep the CAL name! 7 in 10 years!........on another note I think I sat in front of you in new hire class at Alegiant!

 

[justin15e]

I don't know if this is even possible, but I've heard a rumor CAL and American might team up to split United and divvy out the assets. No official sources, just your standard rumor pulled from somone's A$$.

I don't know if thats even legal or possible since UA isn't in bancruptcy. For UA sake, I hope that isn't the case.

Any thoughts?

 

[Fly-n-hi]

Me too...anyone but USAir!

PHXFLYR

No kidding. When most of us found out we were aquiring US Airways there was a collective "NOOOOOOO!!!!" and a collective "what the f%$@ is Parker thinking???".

 

[airborn]

Engine types on a fleet wouldn't have any implications in merger prospects.

Granted, it would save money, but in the big picture it is none but a pixel.

 

[fyeo777]

i dont think UAL would gain much from a US merger, US has no real international routes, secondary hubs, old airplanes, and employees that are not happy (at least the pilots). CAL would be a better fit for UAL, Strong international to Europe out of the largest market in the US (New York), Strong South America Routes where UAL lacks, and New Fuel efficeint fleet with a CEO that has a good track record for bringing employees together to make a winning team. CAL and Alaska looks good on paper, but CAL would again not gain much, they are number 4 now, they would still be number 4 after an Alaska merger. CAL lacks the Asia markets out of the United States, which is a big part of UALs route structure. The only merger after DAL/NWA that makes sense is CAL/UAL. I think US will be the only one without a dance partner unless it is a part of some smaller combination of whoevers left.

 

[Marko Ramius]

i dont think UAL would gain much from a US merger, US has no real international routes, secondary hubs, old airplanes, and employees that are not happy (at least the pilots).

http://www.atwonline.com/channels/dataAirlineEconomics/f&f_page4_0308.pdf

I would tend to agree. Looking at the latest released numbers, United is nearly 50% larger than US on ASK's to Europe and is 50% bigger on RPK's which means that they already carry more pax to Europe with better LF's. Surprisingly, the two are the same size in the Latin arena and US has no Pacific traffic to date. United and CAL do seem to be the better fit both domestically and internationally. CAL is bigger than UAL to Europe, but not by as much as you would think intuitively and UAL actually enjoys a slightly higher LF. CAL is almost 2.5 times bigger on the Latin routes while UA is about 7 times bigger in the Pacific. If all of this stuff is really going down, it just seems like CAL/UA is the superior deal on all faces.

I just don't see UA being interested in US unless they see some sort of value in a relatively cheaper deal v. CAL and they see the potential for substantial internal international growth out of US's presently underdeveloped hubs, and in their aircraft orders. I would imagine the direction US takes would be largely based on the alliance decisions of the combined CAL/UA and how quickly they can get their employee issues together. Alliances do not 'grow' traffic, they shift traffic from one carriers system to another. That wasn't such a big deal ti UA when US was primarily an East coast carrier but, I'm sure it's not lost on either carrier the effect of the alliance having hubs in PHX, DEN, LAS, SFO, and LAX. I don't think UA could kick US out of Star, but with CAL in the fold and a potential Jetblue codeshare down the line b/c of Lufthansa, UA could definitely afford not to put their code on a lot fewer (if any) US flights. The employee issues will likely decide whether Parker can get enough trust and money from banks to be in a bigger deal or whether he has to settle for a smaller deal.

On another note, why wouldn't AMR sniff around US? They've done it before and since it appears that they will not be able to get their first (NW) or second (UA) choice for merger partners, they would be left to play the 'market share' game. US doesn't have much overlap with them and probably could be had cheaper than what it would take to beat out DL for NW.

 

[Uniform Shop]

I'll have you beat if we keep the CAL name! 7 in 10 years!........on another note I think I sat in front of you in new hire class at Alegiant!

I think you did. How's it going? When did you go back to UAL?

 

[cactusboy53]

I always thought the cactus/ATA thing would have been good. that or cactus/spirit/frontier or something similar might have worked.

I liked the idea as well. Besides, the AAA pilots would have gotten the DOH that they have been shooting (pun intended!) for:bawling: .

 

[reepicheep]

Nobody wanted to merge with USAir before the mess of the past year....now it'd be virtual corporate suicide to attempt it. Sure UAL mgmnt. could try to cram it down their throats. And wind up with another summer of 2000.

 

[XShuttle]

I think you did. How's it going? When did you go back to UAL?

Thought so. I went back to UAL a little over a year and a half ago. How's CAL?

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Word is that after DELTA/Northwest becomes a 100% sure thing, UAL/CAL will be next within a few days.