USAir March bid

[BenderGonzales]

Gee..Oberstar from Minnesota is opposed to a merger that would negatively impact Northwest. Shocking. I wonder if that is the same reason that he was opposed to the USAir/UAL merger... hmmm

 

[General Lee]

Gee..Oberstar from Minnesota is opposed to a merger that would negatively impact Northwest. Shocking. I wonder if that is the same reason that he was opposed to the USAir/UAL merger... hmmm

You mean he could be in favor of another merger? Maybe one that NWA is involved in? If there was a merger, BOTH parties would have to be involved, not one like USAir is doing, and it would have to make sense, or fit. USAir and AWA had a good merger hub wise. This one stinks. Here again is what Oberstar just said recently about this proposed takeover and what Phillip Baggaley, an analyst said:


1. Oberstar (chairman of the transportations sub committee) said that by publicly exposing the potential dangers of airline consolidation, his committee may be able to "throw cold water" on merger mania. "We can nudge the Justice Department to take the action they must" to prevent a loss in competition, he said.
Oberstar also said opposition to consolidation is bipartisan. "I’ve heard from members on both sides of the aisle" as worries have grown about the impact on jobs and service, he said. "I haven’t heard anyone come forward and say this is a really good deal."




2. Standard & Poor's credit analyst Philip Baggaley says that Delta's proposed reorganization plan involves less risk than US Airways' merger proposal. "[The plan] would not face antitrust review by the Department of Justice, would not involve potentially difficult labor integration, and would not require the issuance of $4 billion in acquisition debt," said Baggaley in a Dec. 19 note. (S&P, like BusinessWeek.com, is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies.)


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Green]

It is very unlikely the takeover will ever happen. Don't get too whipped up about it. The only person who believes it will happen is Parker. His credit has run out (no upping the bid.....), the DOJ would see the immense overlap, and Oberstar stated he doesn't know anyone in Congress that is for this deal. The creditor committee will vote DL's way too. Relax--very unlikely.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Be careful underestimating Parker. Look where AWA was after 9-11. He has a knack for getting things done.

 

[General Lee]

Be careful underestimating Parker. Look where AWA was after 9-11. He has a knack for getting things done.

What did he do after 9-11? All of the LCCs did well after 9-11, because most of the Majors had 400 airplanes flying around with not enough people on board. We lost money because we had more planes that were empty because people were scared to fly. And he merged with USAir.... That was because USAir wanted to be merged, or face liquidation. And, the merger was a good one because there was little overlap, the hubs weren't even close to each other, and the planes were very similar. Can you say any of that for the proposed DL takeover? Nope.

Even the State Attorney Generals are suspicious:


JoAnn Carrin, a spokeswoman for the Florida attorney general's office, said her office is working with other states on such a review, which she described as routine. She did not name the other states or say how many there were.
It's unclear what authority the states would have since airline mergers are generally reviewed by federal regulators. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, whose state is also reviewing the merger proposal, said the states can't block the merger, but could file suit if it's determined the merger would harm competition. "It smells of a redundant merger that could be anticompetitive, but we won't know until we finish the investigation," Shurtleff said.

US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said Wednesday he was told there could be as many as 11 states that have discussed the issue.




Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[ALGFLYR]

I don't believe we will see a stop in the recalls or training. While it is true there will not be a March bid, the last bid has classes running in Jan. and Feb. There will most likely be an April bid and thoses classes should be in March. I think they are a litle backed up and are trying to keep the "gear-up" running smoothly...

 

[Swaayze]

3 new European destinations starting in May should help, no?

 

[Green]

Gotta love the Airways seniority proposal. Of the top 1000 pilots of the new Us Airways 973 of them will be former AAA pilots.....hmmm? Every single AAA fo and over 400 currently furloughed AAA pilots would have to upgrade before any AWA fo would have the chance to sit in the left seat. what a crock...

 

[Bubba Dog]

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[johnnyb]

Gotta love the Airways seniority proposal. Of the top 1000 pilots of the new Us Airways 973 of them will be former AAA pilots.....hmmm? Every single AAA fo and over 400 currently furloughed AAA pilots would have to upgrade before any AWA fo would have the chance to sit in the left seat. what a crock...

Kinda like AWA proposal putting guys with 2 weeks senior to those with 20 years huh?

 

[grog_sit_reserv]

You're right, we should have let them GO OUT OF BUSINESS COMPLETELY and then they could tell all the people in the unemployment line how they WERE an airline pilot for 20 years.

Lame.