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Gotta love that SWA culture.....SWA considers stand alone Airtran, if.......

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General Lee

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 24, 2002
Posts
20,442
Southwest Considers Stand-Alone AirTran If Pilot Vote Fails

Q

By Mary Schlangenstein and Mary Jane Credeur - Oct 11, 2011 2:36 PM MT


Southwest Airlines (LUV),told pilots it would keep operating newly acquired Air Tran Holdings as a stand-alone carrier if union members don’t agree to combine seniority lists. Southwest briefed pilots on a “Plan B” for “separate and unintegrated” operations after that union declined to hold a membership election on a seniority proposal, according to an AirTran union summary obtained by Bloomberg News. Pilots at both airlines are now voting until Nov. 7 on a new agreement.

Keeping AirTran flying on its own would run counter to the goal of folding the discount carrier into Southwest, the biggest low-fare airline. Dallas-based Southwest paid $1 billion in cash and stock in May to buy AirTran, winning access to fly into Atlanta, home of the world’s busiest airport.
“I’m sure that’s not what management planned when they acquired AirTran,” said Hunter Keay, a Wolfe Trahan & Co. analyst in New York who recommends holding Southwest. “It probably is to some degree a negotiating tactic.”

Pilots’ approval of one seniority list would give Southwest a timeline to blend workforces and fleets, and set union members’ rankings for pay, schedules and the types of jets they fly. For AirTran pilots, ratification will mean “certainty of integration,” Southwest said in a Sept. 22 letter to union members.

Staying Flexible

Southwest has met with pilots to explain “what that vote is and what it does,” Beth Harbin, an airline spokeswoman, said in an interview today. “Absent approval, we have to think about, ‘Where is the flexibility?’”
Harbin declined to discuss the AirTran union summary or what options Southwest would consider if pilots don’t accept the new seniority agreement.

“I’m certainly not going to go into any detail about what that flexibility is,” Harbin said. “Our focus is going to be on getting the deal with the pilots done quickly because that really does set a good momentum for the rest of the integration.”

Jim Morris,, a spokesman for ALPA at AirTran, declined to comment, as did Jacob North, a spokesman for SWAPA. AirTran has about 1,700 pilots, while Southwest has more than 6,000. Southwest rose 2.3 percent to $8.15 today in New York trading. The stock has fallen 37 percent this year for the third-worst decline among 10 carriers in the Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index.


Pilot Balloting

The seniority agreement now being voted on by pilots was crafted after AirTran’s union decided against sending the original version to rank-and-file members. Under the new plan, current Southwest pilots’ seniority rights would be protected, and AirTran pilots would get pay raises.
“The company believes this proposal strongly merits your support,” Southwest said in the Sept. 22 letter.
If the ratification vote falls short, Southwest executives have developed “Plan B” as a contingency, according to the AirTran union summary. Details of that strategy were completed on Sept. 20, the summary said.
“Plan B calls for AAI and SWA to remain separate and unintegrated,” according to the summary, using abbreviations for AirTran and Southwest.


Savings, Revenue

A stand-alone AirTran would provide the same savings and revenue benefits because it would keep collecting $200 million a year in fees for checked bags, and AirTran’s Boeing 717s wouldn’t be blended into Southwest’s fleet, the summary said. Southwest flies only Boeing 737s.
“It’s certainly a valid strategy,” Keay, the Wolfe Trahan analyst, said in an interview.

Southwest has said it expects that full integration of the airlines would take about two years after receiving regulatory approval to operate as a single carrier in 2012’s first quarter. Pilots’ failure to agree on an integration plan can scuttle mergers or keep airlines from operating as a single carrier after a tie-up. Southwest’s 2009 bid for Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. faltered when the carriers’ pilots couldn’t agree on seniority. USAir pilots are still feuding over seniority after the carrier’s creation in the 2005 merger of its namesake predecessor and America West Holdings Corp., forcing management to follow separate work agreements with two unions.





Looks like SWA management does like bag fees? (notice above the $200 million Airtran makes per year doing that) Does Southwest put that fact in their own TV commercials? They OWN Airtran, and still allow bag fees there..... Maybe there will be a new SWA TV Commercial that has the fat SWA Captain saying "Southwest would NEVER do that (except at Airtran)."

HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAAA



Bye Bye---General Lee
 
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Southwest has said it expects that full integration of the airlines would take about two years after receiving regulatory approval to operate as a single carrier in 2012’s first quarter.

Sounds like of the pilots vote it in the operations will be merged...FYI on our ballot, the langauge is yes/no to fully integrate the AAI pilots...quite specific what we are voting for...
 
Southwest has said it expects that full integration of the airlines would take about two years after receiving regulatory approval to operate as a single carrier in 2012’s first quarter.

Sounds like of the pilots vote it in the operations will be merged...FYI on our ballot, the langauge is yes/no to fully integrate the AAI pilots...quite specific what we are voting for...


Sounds great for future morale..... way to go there guys! Make sure 1700 pilots feel "welcome" to the family. What a mess.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
General.... worry about your house and boyfriend (OY6). We will worry about our house...this is none of your business.
 
I'd be concerned about these statements if I were an Air Tran pilot. Remember ATA? SW gutted ATA and all those guys ended up on the streets. It's great from a SW pilot's point of view, because management looks out for their own. Way better that what happened with us. Doug threw us under the bus, and we were the pilot's from the Acquiring airline!:beer:
 
Both sides are going to approve this deal. SWA management doesn't really negotiate with anyone or anybody (to include thier own). They just punch you in the face if you step out of line. It's good to to know this prior to working for them.
 
Strategically, this news bite makes no sense. If I'm correct, this story came out of ATL and not DAL. Think about it- from a SWAPA pilots perspective, you've just handed the SWAPA pilot group the nuclear codes. If this story is true, what's to stop 6000 SWAPA pilots from collectively flushing this whole mess down the tubes? Notwithstanding the obvious strategic advantages of a combined airline, there doesn't seem to be a lot of advantages to a merger from a pilots perspective.
This is why I believe this story started with disgruntled soon to be ex-MEC AIRTRAN members. Just another twist in a very convoluted story. Kelly gains no advantages by making this story public.
Just a thought.
 
We have a winner! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I suprised the Genital didn't see throught this one. He bought it 'lock stock and barrel'. Haha.

What great 'knowledge' of the industry. Tool.
 
Strategically, this news bite makes no sense. If I'm correct, this story came out of ATL and not DAL. Think about it- from a SWAPA pilots perspective, you've just handed the SWAPA pilot group the nuclear codes. If this story is true, what's to stop 6000 SWAPA pilots from collectively flushing this whole mess down the tubes? Notwithstanding the obvious strategic advantages of a combined airline, there doesn't seem to be a lot of advantages to a merger from a pilots perspective.
This is why I believe this story started with disgruntled soon to be ex-MEC AIRTRAN members. Just another twist in a very convoluted story. Kelly gains no advantages by making this story public.
Just a thought.

Unless this outcome was expected from the very beginning. "Gary" had to get this deal by the regulators by promising no jobs would be lost. Can anyone point to a merger -- anywhere -- where this was the case? Now with the way this is playing out he can kill a competitor, gain its gates (probably all he really wanted), keep his pilots happy (this release, if anything gives a wink/nod to vote "no"), and he blame the whole outcome on the economy and an unruly, greedy union that doesn't understand this tough economy, where "Gary" is by golly just trying to help. By George, who wouldn't want to be acquired by SWA?
 
Strategically, this news bite makes no sense. If I'm correct, this story came out of ATL and not DAL. Think about it- from a SWAPA pilots perspective, you've just handed the SWAPA pilot group the nuclear codes. If this story is true, what's to stop 6000 SWAPA pilots from collectively flushing this whole mess down the tubes? Notwithstanding the obvious strategic advantages of a combined airline, there doesn't seem to be a lot of advantages to a merger from a pilots perspective.
This is why I believe this story started with disgruntled soon to be ex-MEC AIRTRAN members. Just another twist in a very convoluted story. Kelly gains no advantages by making this story public.
Just a thought.



Please do not bring facts to FI.

This is yet another ALPA tactic to throw a wrench into the works.

Sad part is,ALPA could care less about the 1700 AT pilots and there future.

I am off to clean out my tool box. speaking of boxes OY6/GL you might want to clean/flush your box out. Start with vinegar :)
 
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