us air dumping mesa

[big dog1]

Lots of talk in the PHL crew room that Lakefield thinks Mesa has a "poor product" (direct quote from him) and the PSA guys are running around saying they are being told in ground school that U is going to start "phasing out Mesa". I was also told by a couple J4J'ers that are hearing the same thing from there mainline union buddies.

I know, I know this could all be moot if U goes CH 7 but,
CH 11 would allow them to CX our contract. Remember last time in CH 11 we got off Scot free b/c JO and Siegel were boys. That won't happen this time. I also have a feeling that U might have put Mesa on notice due to our poor performance. (another way they could get out of the contract) We have a bunch of TDY FO's for bid 32, that for the first time in 14 months give us FO reserves in PHL.(that's right 14 months!) It looks like they are using the 15 extra mixed lines to try and cover the integration because the last couple have been complete disasters. Looks to me like we are scrambling to make things run smother to save our asses. What do ya think?

 

[I.P. Freley]

How about adding a question mark to the end of the name of the thread?

 

[Rogue5]

August 19, 2004
US Airways Chairman: Liquidation Possible
By REUTERS

Filed at 8:08 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc.'s chairman said employees must agree to $800 million in new wage and benefit cuts within 30 days or the airline might be liquidated, the New York Times said on Thursday, citing an interview with Chairman David Bronner.

The No. 7 U.S. airline emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last spring, financed in part with $240 million from Retirement Systems of Alabama, the pension fund Bronner runs.

A liquidation could take place under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Bronner said that without cost-saving agreements with unions, he would not invest more money in the Arlington, Virginia-based airline.

He said agreements are needed well before September 30, when US Airways faces a series of covenants in its federally guaranteed loans, which secure its arrangements with aircraft lenders.

``Why would you put new money in, if they don't make a deal,'' Bronner said in the interview.

A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association told the newspaper the pilots union would not be pushed into a quick agreement. A vice president for the machinists union said his union would help the carrier save money, short of reopening contracts.

Bronner told the newspaper that he and other investors potentially would be better off if US Airways liquidated, because they could buy its planes, gates and routes at cheap prices, and not have to take on labor contracts. US Airways has higher operating costs than many discount carriers.

``It's a whole lot cheaper for me to have the assets and start over than to have the liabilities,'' Bronner said. The newspaper said he joked that the remains of US Airways could be used to start a new carrier named ``Bama Air'' in tribute to his home state of Alabama. But he said liquidation is ``what you want to avoid.''

US Airways shares closed Wednesday at $1.93, above their $1.44 post-bankruptcy low touched in May.

 

[Coffee]

Let the stories fly

Come on, Mesa is not going to be dumped by U.S. Air.
More like Mesa is going to buy portions of U.S. Air.
The latest news suggests that even with the 800 million
concession from the four unions, U.S. Air will still have to convince
the Air Transportation Stabilization Board to allow them
to continue flying, even though they are defaulting on their
loan.

 

[Long-Gonner]

The information from the PHL crew room is true, to a certain extent. Mesa will phase out of DCA and PHL, which will allow for more Mesa flying to pull back to CLT. Just "dumping" Mesa would mean a big loss of feed for UAir that is really needed at this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mesa's 8% profit guarantee get the ax in a chp 11 reorganization, but dumping Mesa all together is just some winded PSA and J4J guys talking out of their rear ends. Of course this is all dependent if we make it past September......

 

[stb]

Hmmm, MDA will have PHL as a

pilot base in Sept and DCA in Nov/Dec.

Currently new MDA routes are taking over old Mesa routes.

 

[bogberto]

Nothing wrong with U taking the flying back. Sure, the growth has been great for us, but farming out work is part of what got us to the mess our industry and profession is in today. Yeah, I'll have to go back to the right seat, but oh well. Bringing loyalty back to the workplace isn't a bad thing.