Midwest, AirTran what's the right price?

[Eagle757shark]

Midwest's board of directors on Jan. 25 recommended that shareholders reject AirTran's $13.25-a-share cash and stock tender offer. When queried by an audience member as to whether Midwest would be interested in a deal if AirTran were to raise its per-share offer to a specified level, Scott Dickson Midwest Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer said: "There are lots of potential outcomes and the board and management team of Midwest is not going to speculate on those. We've made our position very clear. The best value for our shareholders and stakeholders is to have Midwest Airlines continue to execute its business plan."
This was quoted in The Business Journal of Milwaukee in the article: AirTran 'desperate', Midwest executive says dated 2/8/2007.
So the question,what price will bring these two airlines together?

 

[ultrarunner]

Twenty bucks.

 

[TV9Driver]

At this point, just let Midex go. They don't want to join up with us. Apparently we are not good enough for MKE's traveling public.

I am surprised that the pilots are against it though. It would appear to be a good deal for them - more airplanes (other than md80's) more upgrade possibilities, a more secure future, no new rj's coming in to steal their flying...etc...

Good luck to everyone involved (God know's we need it)

 

[ultrarunner]

I'd have to agree with you there TV. If anything the pilot group would actually see some growth opportunity.

As it stands now, once all the contract flying is built up, I would see mainline as the smaller of the operation.

 

[likeitis]

$18/share of which at least $14 in cash. But the money isn't the thing that is really holding this thing up. What is holding this up is the fear that none of the Midwest business model will be incorporated into the new carrier and the people of Wisconsin who are used to producing quality product will now be forced to ride on Jerry Springer's airline.

I don't say this to take anything away from the flight crews at AirTran but you can have the nicest most hardworking employees in the world but it won't make a difference unless management promotes mutual respect for the employee and gives them the tools and training to provide real customer service. I worked at AirTran years ago and lived in ATL and I would not tell anyone where I worked because that would mean that I would have to sit through 15 minutes of how they were fcuked the last time they flew FL. Now at YX I have yet to be told a single bad story from anyone I have met. Even stories where we actually dropped the ball, the customers aren't pissed because our people are so well trained at damage control.

The very people who produce Sub-Zero fridges, Viking ranges, HD motorcycles, Kohler bathroom fixtures, Briggs & Stratton engines, Allen Edmunds shoes, Wolf ovens, Manitowoc commercial freezers, Manitowoc cranes, North sails, Oshkosh trucks and Trek bicycles to name a few will not have a viable quality option for air travel if this thing goes through as simply a larger AirTran.

 

[fam62c]

I'm not sure what the correct price is but it doesn't look like it's going to happen at $13.25. AirTran started out aggressively enough but they didn't put up enough cash to get it done. I also don't think they anticipated the level of resistance they encountered. I think they will end up walking away from the takeover attempt at least for now and watch what happens with MEH.

The people who run MEH have created some pretty big expectations for the shareholders and we will have to see whether or not they can make their numbers and hold the stock price up if the AAI offer goes away. In the past nobody paid any attention to what the management team at MEH did and they were under no pressure whatsoever to produce results. The company lost money for 5 years, almost went bankrupt and reduced a $35/share stock to $1.50/share and the CEO kept his job. MEH shareholders are the most passive group that there is. With AirTran waiting in the wings the folks at MEH will be looking over their shoulders and they will have to produce results if they want to remain independent. I wonder if AirTran has a plan-B? They have said that MKE is an underserved and overpriced market and that MEH is vulnerable to low-cost competition; let's see if they believe that enough to come to MKE and take MEH on. If they can't buy them now maybe they will try to beat them into submission. In any case, without a significantly higher offer from AAI or a major drop in MEH share price I would say that this deal is done for now.

 

[Eagle757shark]

$18/share of which at least $14 in cash. But the money isn't the thing that is really holding this thing up. What is holding this up is the fear that none of the Midwest business model will be incorporated into the new carrier and the people of Wisconsin who are used to producing quality product will now be forced to ride on Jerry Springer's airline.

I don't say this to take anything away from the flight crews at AirTran but you can have the nicest most hardworking employees in the world but it won't make a difference unless management promotes mutual respect for the employee and gives them the tools and training to provide real customer service. I worked at AirTran years ago and lived in ATL and I would not tell anyone where I worked because that would mean that I would have to sit through 15 minutes of how they were fcuked the last time they flew FL. Now at YX I have yet to be told a single bad story from anyone I have met. Even stories where we actually dropped the ball, the customers aren't pissed because our people are so well trained at damage control.

The very people who produce Sub-Zero fridges, Viking ranges, HD motorcycles, Kohler bathroom fixtures, Briggs & Stratton engines, Allen Edmunds shoes, Wolf ovens, Manitowoc commercial freezers, Manitowoc cranes, North sails, Oshkosh trucks and Trek bicycles to name a few will not have a viable quality option for air travel if this thing goes through as simply a larger AirTran.

Ex-workers sue AirTran over unpaid breaks

Three former AirTran Airways employees who worked at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport have filed a lawsuit against the airline.

By INA PAIVA CORDLE

[email protected]

Three former AirTran Airways customer service agents who worked at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport have sued the airline, alleging they were forced to work through lunch breaks without getting paid.
The suit, filed in Broward Circuit court last week, alleges that AirTran deducted the hourly workers' wages for the 30-minute breaks, violating minimum wage laws.
''Breaks are meant for safety -- they are supposed to have a break to give them relief from the pressures of the job,'' said Lawrence McGuinness, a Miami lawyer who represents the former AirTran employees. ``It's also illegal if you are taking money away from these people, so AirTran gets free workers.''
AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said the airline has not received notification of the lawsuit and therefore could not respond.
At least 3,500 workers nationwide could make up the potential pool of current and former AirTran employees subject to the alleged violation, McGuinness said.
The plaintiffs, Robert Smith, 39, of Fort Lauderdale; Jeffrey Grinell, 35, of Wilton Manors; and Claudia Lopez, 38, of Sunrise, were former customer service/ramp workers of the Orlando-based airline. They worked at both the presecurity ticket counters and the post-security gates at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, McGuinness said.
Each has also recently filed charges of discrimination with the Civil Rights Division of the Broward County Office of Equal Opportunity, alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation, he said.
Graham-Weaver said the airline was not aware of the discrimination allegations, so she could not comment.
McGuinness said he was first contacted regarding the discrimination charges, and each said they had ''experienced the same derogatory remarks and downright hostility.'' It was during those client meetings that he discovered the alleged 30-minute break violations, ``which shows AirTran has some significant employee-employer problems.''
He said he is seeking an as-yet unspecified reimbursement of wages, as well as that AirTran stop the practice of making employees work through their breaks.
''It's an issue of hiring and staffing,'' he said.
Such alleged violations are typically associated with very small firms in the underground economy, said Annette Bernhardt, deputy director of the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, at NYU School of Law.
''This case really illustrates that the constant search to reduce labor costs can result in illegal practices,'' she said, ``even in large, established firms.''
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[Eagle757shark]

If this merger does go through, hopefully things like this will change.

 

[likeitis]

Let's hope this doesn't start a snowball effect like what happened at Wal-Mart with all the employees seeing that they now have a voice and can be heard. If this is indeed true then the blame should be put where it belongs, at the top because they breed this attitude in their middle managers. For everyone's sake lets hope that S.K and K.G. have their hands in this and they receive their due. Miserable humans these two are. An embarrassment to the species.

 

[Lear70]

Let's hope this doesn't start a snowball effect like what happened at Wal-Mart with all the employees seeing that they now have a voice and can be heard. If this is indeed true then the blame should be put where it belongs, at the top because they breed this attitude in their middle managers. For everyone's sake lets hope that S.K and K.G. have their hands in this and they receive their due. Miserable humans these two are. An embarrassment to the species.

Don't hold back now; tell us how you really feel about it.

I thought this was a "done deal". Obviously one of those cases where I'm more than likely gonna be wrong.

FAM62C has it right: when this deal dies, there's gonna be a LOT of expectations from the shareholders there. If they don't live up to it within a year or two, we'll probably see new heads at the top of the food chain, or maybe even another hostile takeover attempt at a much lower stock price.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my 3 year upgrade.

Cheers! :beer: