US Airways would keep DAL PWA

[FDJ2]

AP
US Airways Would Keep Delta Labor Deal
Thursday December 7, 11:18 am ET
By James Amend, AP Business Writer US Airways Says Delta Deal Would Preserve Pilots' Contract; Predicts 6-Month Takeover Process

NEW YORK (AP) -- US Airways said Thursday the airline has every intention of seeing its $8.6 billion buyout of Delta Air Lines through, despite strong objections yesterday from the takeover target's pilots and questions about whether regulators would permit the merger.
Delta Air Lines' pilots union said Wednesday it plans to rally on Dec. 13 to show its opposition to the hostile bid, and will lobby members of Congress to block the deal. The union's governing body passed a resolution Tuesday night opposing the buyout, saying it would violate their contract.
US Airways Chief Operating Officer J. Scott Kirby told analysts at Calyon Securities' industry conference in New York that the takeover would see Delta's pilot contract though, although he did not elaborate further.
Kirby also said he wants Delta to consider the buyout as it formulates its post-bankruptcy business plan.
"We're asking for a parallel process," said Kirby, who estimated a deal could be done in six months if due diligence was begun today.
Delta's 6,000 pilots also expressed concern that the new company would leave Atlanta. Kirby declined to answer questions about where the new company might be headquartered, but did say the takeover would move more traffic to Atlanta and eliminate less profitable flights at some connecting cities elsewhere in the southeast.
Kirby also expressed confidence that regulators would permit the combination. Kirby cited the growth of low-cost carriers, the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the industry, airline bankruptcies, and the efficiencies demonstrated by its merger with America West.
US Airways estimates the Delta deal represents $1.65 billion in network and cost synergies.
"We feel very good about our ability to pass antitrust scrutiny," Kirby said.
Kirby noted that Wall Street has already endorsed deal, as evidenced by a 20 percent surge in US Airways stock and a 50 percent gain in the value of Delta's bonds since the takeover was announced Nov. 15.
Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways is the nation's sixth-largest carrier; Delta is the nation's third-largest. Together, their combination would create the largest carrier in the United States in terms of revenue. Shares of US Airways Group Inc. fell 73 cents to $59.70 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

[HighSpeedClimb]

Some Delta creditors form separate group

Thu Dec 7, 2006 8:45pm ET

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A group of nine unsecured creditors of Delta Air Lines Inc. (DALRQ.PK: Quote, Profile , Research) have formed an unofficial committee to represent their interests, as the bankrupt carrier faces a takeover bid, according to court filings on Thursday.
The formation of the unofficial committee, which consists of creditors such as Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc., comes after US Airways Group Inc. (LCC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) made an unsolicited $8.6 billion takeover offer for Delta on November 15.
Unsecured creditors in Delta's bankruptcy are already represented by one official committee, which consists of nine of Delta's largest creditors whose claims are not backed by collateral.
But none of the members of the new group are on the official creditor committee.
Atlanta-based Delta, which has been operating under Chapter 11 protection since September 2005, has said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2007 as a stand-alone carrier and aims to file its reorganization plan this month. Delta's management has said it would review US Airways' offer as it is obligated to do.
The new group was expected to put pressure on Delta to fully consider the US Airways bid as an alternative to its stand-alone strategy, a person familiar with the matter said in November, when the group was being organized.
Delta's pilot union, which is part of the official creditor committee, has opposed US Airways' bid, saying it prefers the airline to remain independent.
Members of the new unofficial committee hold claims on unsecured obligations and securities issued by Delta, according to the filing. It did not say how much the members held among them.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

 

[General Lee]

Some Delta creditors form separate group

Thu Dec 7, 2006 8:45pm ET

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A group of nine unsecured creditors of Delta Air Lines Inc. (DALRQ.PK: Quote, Profile , Research) have formed an unofficial committee to represent their interests, as the bankrupt carrier faces a takeover bid, according to court filings on Thursday.
The formation of the unofficial committee, which consists of creditors such as Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc., comes after US Airways Group Inc. (LCC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) made an unsolicited $8.6 billion takeover offer for Delta on November 15.
Unsecured creditors in Delta's bankruptcy are already represented by one official committee, which consists of nine of Delta's largest creditors whose claims are not backed by collateral.
But none of the members of the new group are on the official creditor committee.
Atlanta-based Delta, which has been operating under Chapter 11 protection since September 2005, has said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2007 as a stand-alone carrier and aims to file its reorganization plan this month. Delta's management has said it would review US Airways' offer as it is obligated to do.
The new group was expected to put pressure on Delta to fully consider the US Airways bid as an alternative to its stand-alone strategy, a person familiar with the matter said in November, when the group was being organized.
Delta's pilot union, which is part of the official creditor committee, has opposed US Airways' bid, saying it prefers the airline to remain independent.
Members of the new unofficial committee hold claims on unsecured obligations and securities issued by Delta, according to the filing. It did not say how much the members held among them.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

This was already talked about a couple weeks ago. Some of the creditors, mainly bondholders, were encouraged to form another committee to TRY to exert some pressure or have some SAY in the process. The Judge really only recognizes the OFFICIAL creditor committee, though. Splinter groups are not that uncommon, supposedly (according to the other article) in these situations.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Here is a copy of the post I made about the Wall St Journal article about the splinter groups:


So, I picked up a copy of the WSJ to read the actual article, and a lot was left out in those subsequent Reuters etc threads. It was a big article, but here is a few major highlights that were missed:

"In conference calls yesteday with Deutsche Bank AG and Leman Brothers, bondholders were urged to band together to pressure Delta--which is under BK court protection--to fully consider the hostile bid from USAirways. The effort by both banks, which are Delta creditors, is aimed at creating a second group of crediotrs with some say in the airline's restructuring. Currently, the resturcturing ultimately must be approved by the official committee of unsecured creditors, which is dominated by much larger creditors."

"The outcome of the meetings wasn't immediately clear, and it remains to be seen how much leverage a splinter group could have in the takeover fight and it's strategy for exerting influence. The bondholders being pitched to combine forces represent 30% of the total $16 billion-18 billion claim that will eventually serve as the basis for dolling out equity in post BK Delta."

"The varied interests of individual creditors are likely to be a significant factor. Boeing Co., for example, is a long standing seller of aircraft to Delta, while USAirways is leaning towards Airbus. Other committee members include U.S. Bancorp, the PBGC, Coca Cola, and Fidelity." (also DALPA)

"The creation of an ad hoc creditor group in large BK cases isn't unusual, but some executives and employee groups have critisized such investors for their short term interests, rather than looking out for the longer range good of employees and companies trying to restructure."

"Delta CFO Ed Bastain said in an interview Friday that Delta believes it's plan to emerge as a stand alone company will prove superior to USAirways' offer, especially in light of the "transaction risks" inherent in a merger plan. A Delta spokewomen yesterday said Mr Bastian's comments still stood."


Those were things left out of the other blurbs. Buy a copy of today's WSJ and see for yourself. Again, you can find the article on page A3 under "Some Delta Bondholders Try to Form Splinter Group."



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[johnsonrod]

How will increasing USAirways wages to Delta levels provide cost-cutting synergies? Sounds like negotiating posturing if you ask me. Parker wants to do his deal so that he can integrate a bigger mess... It won't happen.

 

[FDJ2]

But none of the members of the new group are on the official creditor committee..

Enough said.

 

[Dizel8]

Considering Parker wanted a cost neutral integration of AWA and AAA, and has yet to integrate the groups, it would seem Parker is now trying to appeal to DALPA. I guess all they would have to look at is the current mess, integration wise, that is the new U.

 

[Pat Fabin]

Sure he'd "honor" our contract, right up until he files the 1113(c) motion to void it while we're still in Chapter 11.

 

[General Lee]

Classic!

Kirby also expressed confidence that regulators would permit the combination. Kirby cited the growth of low-cost carriers, the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the industry, airline bankruptcies, and the efficiencies demonstrated by its merger with America West.


Take a look at what he says:

1. Kirby cited the growth of low-cost carriers. Ok. Would Southwest and JB go to many of the smaller communities that would have half of their service chopped (choice is gone) because now only USAir and DL go there? (Lynchburg, Hunington, Florence) There is no way the LCCs would fly there, too small. And, DL and USAir would not continue to go to those places from BOTH hubs, which could be reduced anyway.

2.The effects of Sept 11th. Yeah. Both USAir and AWA took Gov't money to survive. Now most airlines are making profits again and load factors are 80% full. People seem to be flying again, even after 9-11.

3.Airline Bankruptcies. Yes, a lot of us went BK. A lot of us are doing better or will do better thanks to getting leaner. USAir needed a partner to just survive--and AWA helped them. DL doesn't want or need help.

4.Efficiencies of USAir and AWA merger. Well, their hubs were on totally different sides of the country, and their fleets were similar. That is great. How about with DL? Almost no overlap with AWA and USAir. How about with DL?



Come on Kirby, you can do better, right? Just don't let Parker speak to USAtoday reporters.....


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[lowecur]

How will increasing USAirways wages to Delta levels provide cost-cutting synergies? Sounds like negotiating posturing if you ask me. Parker wants to do his deal so that he can integrate a bigger mess... It won't happen.

$1.6B savings per DP, and that is conservative. I understand DP has surpased the $600M he predicted in the last merger. Even at $1.6B, the combined pilot groups would probably see industry leading rates. If it's over $2B(which is my guess), then pilots would be climbing all over themselves to get on-board. Senority integration would be made more palatable if that's the case.

I'm waiting for those Nov & Dec numbers from DL. If those don't break the ice, nothing will.

imp:​

 

[FDJ2]

$1.6B savings per DP, and that is conservative.
imp:

Lowecur, DP states that he will honor the DAL PWA. Which limits the number of 76 seat "regional" aircraft and chops that number down to just 70 seats if there are furloughs. He also states that there will be no furloughs and a 10% reduction in ASMs. Additionally, the DAL PWA does not allow code sharing with LCC., which makes things difficult to say the least.

How do you see DP pulling this off?

 

[General Lee]

$1.6B savings per DP, and that is conservative. I understand DP has surpased the $600M he predicted in the last merger. Even at $1.6B, the combined pilot groups would probably see industry leading rates. If it's over $2B(which is my guess), then pilots would be climbing all over themselves to get on-board. Senority integration would be made more palatable if that's the case.

I'm waiting for those Nov & Dec numbers from DL. If those don't break the ice, nothing will.

imp:​

Thanks to all of those "synergies" with the fleets, we could be a lean, mean, gargantuan monster. How many different types of planes would we have? (A319, A320, A321, A330, 734, 733, 757, 767-200, and E190 (USAir only), then add MD88, MD90, 738, 757-Pratt engines, 767-300DOM, 767-300ER, 757ER (ex TWA), 767-400, and 777. (add orders of 737-700 and possibly 787). So, how many different planes is that (minus 737-700 and 787)? 18. Yup, 18 different types, immediately. Synergies.....wow. Then throw in Comair's CRJs. Nice.

And lets look at those numbers. Did you see that our passengers carrier were down 1% in OCT? Wow, not bad, since we have dumped 30 737-200s and 11 737-300s (SLC) since OCT of 05. We only carried 1% less pax? We must have been more full---well, infact we were. Our load factors were up about 5% system wide. Not bad, and a work in progress.

Oh, and there are 3 other cities in NC alone that have service ONLY from USAir or DL--(a choice for those consumers)---Jacksonville, NC (Camp Lejuene), Fayettville, NC (Ft Bragg), and Wilmington, NC. Would Southwest or JB send flights into any of those cities?? (also Huntington, WV, Lynchburg, VA, and Florence, SC) I doubt it highly. And, don't forget the SLC side. There are plenty of cities in Montana, SD, ID, and WA that have only a couple airlines serving them. Would SLC stick around along with LAS and PHX on the West Coast? 3 hubs within a few hundred miles of each other? United is the other airline that hits some of those cities, and DL is now the only competition if you want to go East bound, unless you want to treck backwards westbound to SEA on Horizon. Consumer choice goes down the toilet, again. Well, Bigsky would have a chance to get huge I guess....Maybe JB will start nonstop E190 service from Butte to JFK....it has the range.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[lowecur]

Lowecur, DP states that he will honor the DAL PWA. I thought Scott Kirby said that? Incidently, Scott's nose is 2" longer in just one week. Which limits the number of 76 seat "regional" aircraft and chops that number down to just 70 seats if there are furloughs. So, what's wrong with that? He also states that there will be no furloughs and a 10% reduction in ASMs. Additionally, the DAL PWA does not allow code sharing with LCC., which makes things difficult to say the least. That's the part where his nose keeps growing, and one that Lee will overlook if the numbers look right.

How do you see DP pulling this off?

Lee is making all the right moves by playing hardball. When things go into seclusion in mid January, DP and Lee will have a face to face. I think DP's numbers look so good on this, that all three pilot groups could get industry leading compensation till let's say 2010. At that time they will need to integrate seniority, which is the tough part (but lot's of retirements will help).

imp:​

 

[lowecur]

Thanks to all of those "synergies" with the fleets, we could be a lean, mean, gargantuan monster. How many different types of planes would we have? They probably will slowly sell off the Airbus' fleet and replace them all with Boeing. Comair is history, and SKYW will be cutback.

And lets look at those numbers. Did you see that our passengers carrier were down 1% in OCT? Wow, not bad, since we have dumped 30 737-200s and 11 737-300s (SLC) since OCT of 05. We only carried 1% less pax? We must have been more full---well, infact we were. Our load factors were up about 5% system wide. Not bad, and a work in progress. Not bad for a carrier that Neeleman says is not profit motivated. The "plan" will have to show creditors that the company can make money, and what will be shown in Nov and Dec is the company will not make money (my guess). Raising fares on competing routes with Jetblue and AirTran will be a must if Grinstein has any hopes of getting his plan past the Judge. Lot's of luck!


Bye Bye--General Lee

You're such a kidder.

imp:​

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm curious. The offer on the table is nearly 9 billion. Half in cash. And that offer is without any dudiligence. The offer could go higher or lower should Delta choose to open it's books. IMO, I would think the offer will go higher. It's likely the creditors will force Delta to open the books and it's likely not good business NOT to open the books. Thinking the offer could go as high at 10 billion, half in cash, etc...how does this compare to Delta's offer their own creditors?

 

[michael707767]

$1.6B savings per DP, and that is conservative. I understand DP has surpased the $600M he predicted in the last merger. Even at $1.6B, the combined pilot groups would probably see industry leading rates. If it's over $2B(which is my guess), then pilots would be climbing all over themselves to get on-board. Senority integration would be made more palatable if that's the case.

I can tell with your last statement you really don't know a thing about pilots. There is no amount of "synergy" that would make me want to merge with USAir, or anybody for that matter. Industry leading rates mean nothing if you get bumped backward in a merger and your prospects for moving up are limited.

I don't believe a word Parker says about synergies or paying the employees the highest of the three contracts. It's all talk. That talk would not survive a week after he pulled off the deal.

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Above all else, never forget that...

Date of Hire=Unity=Date of Hire

Tejas

 

[lowecur]

I can tell with your last statement you really don't know a thing about pilots. There is no amount of "synergy" that would make me want to merge with USAir, or anybody for that matter. Industry leading rates mean nothing if you get bumped backward in a merger and your prospects for moving up are limited.

I don't believe a word Parker says about synergies or paying the employees the highest of the three contracts. It's all talk. That talk would not survive a week after he pulled off the deal.

Yeah, and he who hestitates is lost. Read this little blurb from Gary Kelly yesterday:

The future doesn't look bright for the traditional airlines, according to Kelly. "The industry is at the peak of the cycle here where carriers have been able to stem the flow of losses and the bleeding has temporarily stopped," he said. "Inevitably, we'll have another recession, and that will put the industry in the loss situation again. . . . I would not be surprised to see the number of legacy carriers cut in half over the next five years."

In other words, you had better be in great financial shape if you expect to survive. I just don't see that being the case with DL. They are going to take on a ton of debt, and in my opinion Grinstein's plan is not enough to keep the airline viable through this perpetual inevitable economic roller coaster.

Integration will have to happen. Fortunately, many US Air and DL pilots will be retiring in the next 5 years. It will be difficult but viable. The alternative for DL pilots as a stand alone is not.

imp:​

 

[michael707767]

In other words, you had better be in great financial shape if you expect to survive. I just don't see that being the case with DL. They are going to take on a ton of debt, and in my opinion Grinstein's plan is not enough to keep the airline viable through this perpetual inevitable economic roller coaster.

Integration will have to happen. Fortunately, many US Air and DL pilots will be retiring in the next 5 years. It will be difficult but viable. The alternative for DL pilots as a stand alone is not.

First of all, I disagree with you. A stand alone Delta will be financially stronger than the combined AWA/US/DL.

Second, though you are correct that a lot of USAir pilots are retiring in the next five years, there are not a lot of DL pilots retiring. What difference does that make anyway? This is a good deal because a lot of guys are retiring?

Look, Delta may end up merging. And it may be in our best interest to merge. But a USAir/Delta merger does not make sense and is the last airline out there I would want to see us merge with.

 

[FDJ2]

In other words, you had better be in great financial shape if you expect to survive. I just don't see that being the case with DL. They are going to take on a ton of debt, and in my opinion Grinstein's plan is not enough to keep the airline viable through this perpetual inevitable economic roller coaster.

imp:

1. Have you seen DAL's Plan of Reorganization?

2. Parkers deal would add $8B in additional debt, which pretty much contradicts your entire point about debt.