Doug Parker - Merger Maniac

[3BCat]

US Airways CEO hints more airline consolidation may be ahead

Friday, June 30, 2006
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Could US Airways boss Doug Parker be thinking about a merger -- again? Fresh from creating the nation's fifth-largest carrier last fall with the union of the old US Airways and America West Airlines, the boyish-looking chief executive officer admitted in an interview yesterday that the subject of consolidation is still on his mind. And he hinted that the most attractive combinations for US Airways could involve the country's third- or fourth-largest carriers, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06181/702279-28.stm

 

[jetflier]

Hey 3B,

There's still a lot of speculation about mergers.

Imho, DAL and NWA entered the CH11 process in New York, on the same day and at the same time. Coincidence ? Naw, not in my opnion.

NWA is mostly owned by a group of investment bankers, and has been since they bought it in 1986. They smell money in Delta, like sharks smell blood.

I think that when there's millions to be paid to executives as bonuses, they are able to manipulate a lot of things that may not be in the airlines best interests, but instead benefits only themselves.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Boyd has some choice comments on more mergers in that article--


However, both Delta and Northwest would fit well with US Airways' existing network, some said. Both would give US Airways a stronger international presence, with Delta strong across the Atlantic and to Latin America and Northwest owning prized routes to and from the Far East.

But Colorado airline consultant Mike Boyd claims Delta is not interested in a merger. " I know they are not," he said. "The chairman of Delta told me that they are not."

United, Mr. Boyd said, is the only carrier actively looking for a partner, now that it is out of bankruptcy. Senior management "is trying to shop the company," he said. But "that doesn't mean we need consolidation and it doesn't mean it will work."

Nor would a merger of Delta and US Airways make sense, he said, calling it a "major mess" bringing together fleet types and unions that are too different. "It looks good on paper, but in reality it doesn't work," he said.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

I see NWA-USAir or UAL-USair. But not just because Parker is on the hunt. It will be because the profits will be there and they will have the financial strength to work a favorable deal. Parker will benefit big, but so will USAir shareholders.

Delta has to deal with their debt before they, or a partner, consider a merger.

The fallout from UAL's 180+ flight cancellation last weekend will affect the rest of the year.

 

[Andy]

Imho, DAL and NWA entered the CH11 process in New York, on the same day and at the same time. Coincidence ? Naw, not in my opnion.

They declared ch 11 just before the BK laws changed. While there are some parallels, I think that you're reading WAY too much into it.
Where they choose to file BK depends on many factors; not the least of which is where they think that they'll get the most favorable judge.

 

[Andy]

The fallout from UAL's 180+ flight cancellation last weekend will affect the rest of the year.

?? I disagree. UAL appears to be making changes to solve this problem. I italicized appears because it's more PR than substantive changes for this summer.
UAL's VP of Flight Ops announced his retirement along with UAL announcing that they are increasing recalls for this year. The number of recalls this year(400) will cover more than retirements but does not fully account for the additional pilots needed to meet the 2.5% increase in block hours. That 2.5% block hour increase amounts to a need for another 175 or so pilots. And when one considers that UAL was short ~200 pilots last summer, this entire summer will remain tight for UAL in terms of pilots. I'm guessing that UAL will be short somewhere around 300 pilots this summer.

If UAL has another meltdown, you can anticipate another press release naming a new VP of Flight Ops (no replacement was named for Forte) along with a larger number of pilot recalls this year. UAL management will be able to mitigate long term damage by spinning the story in a manner that makes them sound proactive in resolving the problem.

 

[furloughed dude]

If you haven't figured this out, Boyd is an idiot....

 

[Russ]

" I know they are not," he said. "The chairman of Delta told me that they are not."



It would be more than just a little nieve to shootdown any claim of a Delta merger simply on the strength of a comment from the CEO to an analyst/reporter/whatever Boyd is.

 

[General Lee]

" I know they are not," he said. "The chairman of Delta told me that they are not."



It would be more than just a little nieve to shootdown any claim of a Delta merger simply on the strength of a comment from the CEO to an analyst/reporter/whatever Boyd is.

A USAir/Delta merger has way too much route overlap. ATL and CLT are pretty much right next to eachother, and one would probably have to go. They both own a NY Shuttle. They both are big in BOS. CVG is pretty close to the East Coast action. DL's SLC hub is pretty close to AWA's PHX operation. What about our large European operation from JFK? They fly a lot of European flights from PHL, just 100 miles South. That wouldn't make sense, it wouldn't. They have 757s and some 767s in common, but nothing else really. Nah, that really is a long shot. The reason the AWA and USAir merger was allowed to happen was because of LACK OF OVERLAP. That is the key to any merger these days. Nobody in the GOV'T wants to make an airline close a hub and then deal with the resulting large unemployment problem. The local Congressmen would be all over that. Did any hubs close as a direct cause of the AWA/USAir merger? PIT was already getting smaller.

I highly doubt a USAir/DL merger. Nope.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

I'm no fan of Boyd. He is irritating and I usually label him "Master of the Obvious". Sometimes he is right, just not for the reasons or insight he claims to have. I agree Delta is not ready to merge and definitely not with USAir....


Who will merge I think will depend on who gets put on life support like USAir was. Then a strong partner will roll in with wall street financing. We will have to wait until next year because no one is that bad off yet.

No one is going to want to merge like this and it will result in as much pain as the current USAir and AWA merger.

I threw UAL in the mix because I believe their staffing problem (which can't be fixed for 3 months) during the best summer season since 1999-2000 will cost them dearly. The race for sustainable market share is on again. I think when passengers and routes are lost this year it will be VERY hard to get them back again.

 

[Green]

you know the us air/awa merger has actually been relatively painless. Obviously the seniority integration is a huge issue but that is to be expected in any merger. Operationally the merger has been going quite smooth, so far...

 

[Tomct]

If US Air merged with anyone else right now, it would be like "Kicking" a hornets nest.....TWICE!! Talk about a nightmare with pilot lists being merged etc. It would be ugly for quite a while! Only time will tell......

 

[PHXFLYR]

you know the us air/awa merger has actually been relatively painless. Obviously the seniority integration is a huge issue but that is to be expected in any merger. Operationally the merger has been going quite smooth, so far...

Green,
Must be the koolaid flavor of the month they're serving over at SWA for July.

PHXFLYR

 

[PHXFLYR]

A USAir/Delta merger has way too much route overlap. ATL and CLT are pretty much right next to eachother, and one would probably have to go. They both own a NY Shuttle. They both are big in BOS. CVG is pretty close to the East Coast action. DL's SLC hub is pretty close to AWA's PHX operation. What about our large European operation from JFK? They fly a lot of European flights from PHL, just 100 miles South. That wouldn't make sense, it wouldn't. They have 757s and some 767s in common, but nothing else really. Nah, that really is a long shot. The reason the AWA and USAir merger was allowed to happen was because of LACK OF OVERLAP. That is the key to any merger these days. Nobody in the GOV'T wants to make an airline close a hub and then deal with the resulting large unemployment problem. The local Congressmen would be all over that. Did any hubs close as a direct cause of the AWA/USAir merger? PIT was already getting smaller.

I highly doubt a USAir/DL merger. Nope.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General.

I certainley hope you're right because if you're not,that means I will have to work with my wife.....YIKES!!!

PHXFLYR

 

[Green]

Green,
Must be the koolaid flavor of the month they're serving over at SWA for July.

PHXFLYR

PHXFLYR-

Obviously the seniority integration is going to be contentious in any merger. Other than that I think the merger has been pretty uneventful. Do you disagree? I have't noticed any operational meltdowns, schedule problems, training problems, etc....A few threats from Parker about imposing the east contract on us, but he's just playing hardball with the negotiations. That's his job. He's not going to hand us anything on a silver platter.

I definitely don't consider myself a koolaid drinker. Our pay is pathetically low and hopefully our new pilot group will have the guts to fight for our first decent contract. Unfortunately I fly with all too many people who would be absolutely psyched to get a 10% raise. Hopefully the east pilots have higher expectations...

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Mergers... will the plane outlast the bad feelings?

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0962387&WxsIERv=ZpQbaaryy%20Qbhtynf%20QP-9-31&Wm=0&WdsYXMg=Erchoyvp%20Nveyvarf&QtODMg=Fna%20Qvrtb%20-%20Vagreangvbany%20%2F%20Yvaqoretu%20Svryq%20%28FNA%20%2F%20XFNA%29&ERDLTkt=HFN%20-%20Pnyvsbeavn&ktODMp=Nhthfg%201987&BP=1&WNEb25u=Senax%20P.%20Qhnegr%20We.&xsIERvdWdsY=A916EJ&MgTUQtODMgKE=Ubyqvat%20sbe%20arj%20fybg%20gvzr%20gb%20YNF.&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=288&NEb25uZWxs=2005-11-19%2021%3A40%3A28&ODJ9dvCE=952&O89Dcjdg=47144%2F239&static=yes&width=1195&height=727&sok=JURER%20%20%28ert%20%3D%20%27a916ej%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=4&prev_id=0990381&next_id=0937116

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