Leelaw From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 6301 times:
Wall Street Journal, 29 July 2006 (Fair Use Excerpt):
US Airways Group Inc. Chief Executive Doug Parker, buoyed by a stock price that has more than doubled since the company's merger with America West Airlines, telephoned Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein earlier this summer to gauge his interest in a possible merger, according to people familiar with the situation.
Mr. Grinstein told Mr. Parker that Delta wasn't interested in starting merger talks, because the Atlanta-based airline plans to exit bankruptcy-court protection next spring as a stand-alone carrier, according to those people. No subsequent discussions have occurred. Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Delta, wouldn't confirm or deny the conversation involving Mr. Grinstein and said the airline was "focusing on emerging as a healthy, profitable and stand-alone company."
The overture by Mr. Parker, an outspoken proponent of consolidation as part of the cure for the airline industry's financial ills, is the strongest signal yet to surface that a long-predicted consolidation among U.S. airlines could finally begin...
ChrisNH From United States, joined Jun 1999, 3155 posts, RR: 3 Reply 1, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 6281 times:
I don't understand these high-and-mighty airline execs who proudly puff out their 'we'll-exit-from-bankruptcy!' chests. The industry needs contraction; needs consolidation. You can say all you want about 'more people flying now than ever!' but the FACT remains that the industry cannot survive long-term with all these carriers. These Einstein executives may realize this, but then they get into a snit about who should be the acquirer and who should be the one being acquired. I'll bet that alone has scuttled many an otherwise sensible merger.
ERJ170 From United States, joined Apr 2004, 5747 posts, RR: 21 Reply 2, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 6270 times:
I would say that would be one of the worst mergers in history.
Delta is WAY Boeing. US is moving towards airbus. Staff issues. Aircraft issues. Seniority issues.
That would have been worst.
I applaud Delta for wanting to remain stand alone. I think they will do well out of BK.
Mr Parker should just work on US right now. He's doing a good job and things are looking better, but the US product isn't at the subpar yet. I think they need to revamp inside the shell before they try to add someone to the soire. In comparison to most airline, US is kinda.. lacking.
Redo the interiors.. get the staff to the excited level.. get the call service centers back into the US.. fix PHL.. decrease the RJ dependency (not eliminate).. then began your talks..
Flyboyaz From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 6123 times:
I don't understand where they would have gotten that information. Doug said in the webcast on Thursday that we were not going to merge with anyone else because we had enough on our plate. Perhaps he was just asking Delta about them merging with another carrier.
DeltAirlines From United States, joined May 1999, 7286 posts, RR: 16 Reply 4, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 6076 times:
Good for DL to turn them down. I really don't want DL to become like the new US which is more about catering to the leisure traveller than the road warrior. Not to mention some of the reasons ERJ170 mentioned, such as seniority, union/non-union, and also that their routes are heavily overlapping (the only two major players in the Southeast are DL and US, and both are very large players in the Northeast as well...I could see for this reason the DOJ or DOT not letting a US/DL merger go through.)
Milesrich From United States, joined Jul 2003, 800 posts, RR: 6 Reply 5, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 6025 times:
The solution to the crisis in the industry was so simple. It just took the idiots that run the companies a long time to figure it out. Raise Fares. They finally did. And Southwest's fuel hedges expiring helped tremendously. There still may be consolidation in the industry, but merging with or acquiring another carrier because your stock price has been bid up by the idiot speculators on Wall Street is pure lunacy. Delta may merge with a carrier. It will not be US Airways. The next "crisis" Delta will face is at Comair. Just think what Delta and Northwest could do together by eliminating either DTW or CVG, and being able to shift traffic between MEM and ATL. Equipment is not the problem everyone thinks it is because while it be more efficient to operate 300 737NG's or 300 A-319/320's, having two fleets of 150 aircraft a piece is not inefficient. And the NW Pacific system, together with DL's Atlanta and Latin America system, fed by the Domestic network would certainly be a higher yield product than just eliminating CLT and SLC in a DL/US combination.
MasseyBrown From United States, joined Dec 2002, 3998 posts, RR: 8 Reply 6, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 5949 times:
A US/DL merger would reintroduce EA's ATL vs CLT dilemma. EA tried to give CLT just enough service to keep a competitor out while limiting self-diversion from ATL. It didn't work, as Piedmont showed. If US reduced CLT, somebody would move in, most likely WN.
PHX/LAS/SLC also compete for a lot of the same customers.
US/DL seems like a bad idea. NW would be a much better target.
Flyboyaz From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 5837 times:
I don't see any of them as a good merger candidates. All 3 (US, NW, DL) are too large and have hubs too close together. To me it makes sense to merge with an airline where together you can compliment each other (like HP and US). Better mergers would like DL and AS or better yet CO and AS. NW and F9 or FL and YX...even US and YX would make more sense..it would give US the ability to pick up a good amount of Midwest traffic.
Piercey From Sweden, joined Nov 2005, 2233 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 5799 times:
Quoting ERJ170 (Reply 2): I would say that would be one of the worst mergers in history.
agreed. From hubs to fleet commonality, this has disaster written allover it.
Something tells me, this wasn't US/DL. I think it was DL/??. Who is the ?? ? FL (ATL based competitor), CO (SkyTeam partner, fleet common), NW (another SkyTeam), or another carrier? Something tells me Parker was acting like a forced consulate.
Well I believe it all is coming to an end. Oh well, I guess we are gonna pretend.
Dw9115 From United States, joined Dec 2005, 414 posts, RR: 3 Reply 9, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 5791 times:
Quoting ChrisNH (Reply 1): The industry needs contraction; needs consolidation.
That is the completely B.S. the industry needs to learn how to operate in the current market conditions i.e. high fuel costs and lower prices. They have no problem filling seats now or what looks like anytime in the future. One major thing is getting labor in line with reality. A person that pushes a vacuum at night in a plane may in-fact need $15 to $20 a hour to live but there skill set does not justify that by any means and them thinking they are entitled to that is crap if they want that kind of pay they need to get a marketable skill that is entitled to that pay.
TropicBird From United States, joined May 2005, 472 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 5667 times:
The latest word is that US is quietly talking with UAL. According to a union rep, the parties are talking almost daily but the sticking point is that UAL's overhead is still a bit too high and they need to get more cuts from the employees which is not something that will go over well but they may not have a choice. This irritates the employees to no end.
According to UAL employees I have spoken to, they have been expecting the company to ask for additional concessions since exiting Chap. 11 as they have been floundering. Although they have recently made a profit, Wall Street and others are not optimistic that can make this a long term trend as their overhead is still too high to be competitive with US, Delta and NWA. Thus morale is at all time low and it shows in the product.
UAL's knows this and that is why they are actively seeking a partner. It is driven by survival. Of course, this only an opinion based on conversations, personal experience and news articles, the reality can be something totally different.
TVNWZ From United States, joined Feb 2006, 1561 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 5649 times:
Quoting ChrisNH (Reply 1): I don't understand these high-and-mighty airline execs who proudly puff out their 'we'll-exit-from-bankruptcy!' chests. The industry needs contraction; needs consolidation. You can say all you want about 'more people flying now than ever!' but the FACT remains that the industry cannot survive long-term with all these carriers.
No the industry needs fewer flights and higher prices. They need to get over the "Last man standing" business model.
Quoting Flyboyaz (Reply 3): I don't understand where they would have gotten that information. Doug said in the webcast on Thursday that we were not going to merge with anyone else because we had enough on our plate. Perhaps he was just asking Delta about them merging with another carrier.
probably from Doug. It's the WSJ. Doug is trying to accomplish something. He tells his buddy the WSJ reporter who prints it. Now Doug sits back and gets comments from other power brokers who own his stock. And if it is a bad idea and nobodhy likes it, Doug just denies it. It's the way the game is played.
Quoting Milesrich (Reply 5): The solution to the crisis in the industry was so simple. It just took the idiots that run the companies a long time to figure it out. Raise Fares. They finally did.
Quoting TokyoNarita (Reply 10): I usually don't touch these merger threads but I think Parker called Grinstein to sniff out if DL is interested in NW. Parker probably wants NW.
Very plausable. But whatever Grinstein told him, it was probably a lie. He now knows Parker is up to something.
Airwave From United States, joined Mar 2006, 1117 posts, RR: 14 Reply 14, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 5414 times:
Quoting Dw9115 (Reply 9): They have no problem filling seats now or what looks like anytime in the future
And why is that? Because they *consolidated* or got rid of the excess capacity! And they're turning a profit even with ridiculous fuel prices. So...
Quoting TVNWZ (Reply 12):
No the industry needs fewer flights and higher prices. They need to get over the "Last man standing" business model.
Quoting TokyoNarita (Reply 10): I think Parker called Grinstein to sniff out if DL is interested in NW. Parker probably wants NW.
I'm not a merger-thread kinda guy, but I'll admit, this one has me piqued. My personal take? I think Parker has *NO* interest in DL whatsoever--maybe a few routes, but certainly not the whole company. I think the reason he called up DL--and perhaps saw to it that it was leaked to the Journal--was to roundaboutly let NW know that he's open to any ideas they may have..or to expect him to make a move at some point.
But who knows? Just speculation, of course.
Airwave
When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
COERJ145 From United States, joined Jun 2005, 1386 posts, RR: 1 Reply 15, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 5092 times:
I would think US would have an intrest in NW. Both have similar fleets, complementing route structures. PHX, LAS, MSP, DTW, PHL, CLT as hubs. MEM and PIT reduced to focus/regional ops cities.
Mariner From New Zealand, joined Nov 2001, 13414 posts, RR: 93 Reply 16, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 4999 times:
Quoting ChrisNH (Reply 1): I don't understand these high-and-mighty airline execs who proudly puff out their 'we'll-exit-from-bankruptcy!' chests.
It is probably a point of honor - or chest pounding. We are dealing with soaring self-belief here.
The Delta situation will be Mr. Grinstein's swan-song, after a long and fairly illustrious career. For his own ego, he needs to bring Delta out of bk - (I did it!) - and then retire.
Mr. Parker is clearly one of the young lions of the industry. After the financial success (so far) of the merger, he has enormous backing behind him, and he will get what he wants.
Whatever that may be.
But if - stress "if" - he does want Delta, he won't get it from Mr. Grinstein, who will simply get out of the way - once he has done what he set out to do.
It's like that interim CEO at United, who pounded his chest and said that he had not taken the job in order to preside over the bankruptcy of United.
And he didn't. He retired and let Mr. Tilton preside over the bankruptcy.
Dw9115 From United States, joined Dec 2005, 414 posts, RR: 3 Reply 17, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 14 hours ago) and read 4970 times:
Quoting Airwave (Reply 14): And why is that? Because they *consolidated* or got rid of the excess capacity! And they're turning a profit even with ridiculous fuel prices. So...
No, Legacy airlines got rid of capacity and LCCs i.e. Southwest, AirTran and Jetblue expanded and more then then made up for the legacy cut backs and now even some of the legacy carriers are expanding. The only thing the airlines are doing by shedding capacity is sticking you the customer with a higher price and not fixing the real problems i.e. unskilled labor thinking they need to be paid like doctors.
OttoPylit From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 18, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4903 times:
It will be a cold day in hell before Delta would even bother to listen to an airline such as US Airways in consideration of a merger. It certainly wouldn't be America West(under the presumed name US Airways). First of all, Delta is the much larger carrier. Of the two, the only one with a vast international network. And one with a much more loyal customer base who would have no interest in becoming the "new" US Airways LCC. If anything, it would be the other way around. But even then, it begs the question, why buy up US Airways? It already has a large Eastern presence. Pretty healthy out west from SLC. A few extra West Coast or Rocky Mtn cities wouldn't be worth DL acquiring US Airways. A very moot point. But I'm sure Parker just thinks that he works wonders for the airline industry now.
Quoting Mariner (Reply 16): The Delta situation will be Mr. Grinstein's swan-song, after a long and fairly illustrious career. For his own ego, he needs to bring Delta out of bk - (I did it!) - and then retire.
Which, if you've seen the past couple of months reports, he seems to be doing. And given his track record at Western, turning an airline on the verge of bankruptcy into a profitable airline in 2 years, he is just the man for the job. The only reason Western merged with DL is that with Western's network, they were not in a position to be a viable carrier 10 years down the road. Better to merge with a company who would also welcome your employee's, than to be left out in the cold years later when your days are numbered and counting.
Quoting Mariner (Reply 16): But if - stress "if" - he does want Delta, he won't get it from Mr. Grinstein
Or anyone for that matter.....unless they allow Mullin back into the chicken coop.
DeltaSFO From United States, joined Nov 2000, 2488 posts, RR: 32 Reply 19, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4878 times:
Quoting ChrisNH (Reply 1): I don't understand these high-and-mighty airline execs who proudly puff out their 'we'll-exit-from-bankruptcy!' chests.
It's not pride or chest pounding. Things are proceeding very well, and Delta's plan is to emerge from bankruptcy and continue doing business as an independent company with its existing name and corporate headquarters in Atlanta.
Quoting Mariner (Reply 16): Mr. Parker is clearly one of the young lions of the industry. After the financial success (so far) of the merger, he has enormous backing behind him, and he will get what he wants.
How is Parker a "young lion" when he's trying to merge with a third airline before even starting the bulk of the operational integration of the two airlines he has? If anything, his desire to merge with a third airline implies that he knows the combination he has is not viable in the long term, or he just has really poor judgement.
As he will learn in the next year or two, there's a lot more to merging two airlines than changing the signs over the ticket counter and painting the planes.....
It's a new day. Every moment matters. Now, more than ever.
Mariner From New Zealand, joined Nov 2001, 13414 posts, RR: 93 Reply 21, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4776 times:
Quoting OttoPylit (Reply 18): Which, if you've seen the past couple of months reports, he seems to be doing.
I don't think I said otherwise. ???
Quoting OttoPylit (Reply 18): And given his track record at Western, turning an airline on the verge of bankruptcy into a profitable airline in 2 years, he is just the man for the job.
I did say "a fairly illustrious career." ???
Quoting OttoPylit (Reply 18): Or anyone for that matter.....unless they allow Mullin back into the chicken coop.
I cannot predict the future, I do not know what will happen.
But - fwiw - some of Mr. Grinstein's recent statements seem - stress "seem" - to leave the gate open.
Which, of course, a good CEO should always do.
Quoting DeltaSFO (Reply 19): How is Parker a "young lion" when he's trying to merge with a third airline before even starting the bulk of the operational integration of the two airlines he has?
(i) Becaue the money people think he is and gave him nearly two billion to play with?
(ii) Because that action saved one basket case airline from extinction?
(iii) The merged entity has one of the highest airline stock prices on Wall Street, and the greatest earnings consensus?
Fwiw, the merged airline just earned $305 million profit in one quarter.
Mr. Parker's backers have done extremely well out of the merger already, it is probable they will trust him with their money again.
I also have to assume that Mr. Parker knows - that he has been told - that the money for a third merger is available to him.
SLCUT2777 From United States, joined Dec 2005, 3693 posts, RR: 14 Reply 22, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4713 times:
Quoting DeltaSFO (Reply 19): It's not pride or chest pounding. Things are proceeding very well, and Delta's plan is to emerge from bankruptcy and continue doing business as an independent company with its existing name and corporate headquarters in Atlanta.
I think Gerald Grinstien is probably the smartest airline executive in the USA right now perhaps in a dead heat with WN's Gary Kelly. He has come in and cleaned up a sickening mess left to him and his two underlings, Jim Whitehurst and Ed Bastian from the previous regime of Leo "The rip-off man" Mullin. I think DL will emerge from BK in the first 2 months of 2007 if not just after the first of the year. The old US had NO CHOICE but to seek a merger under a 2nd BK, and as stated above UA's situation is still a very high overhead and I think if Doug Parker were to allow his common sense to rule over his ego, he would realize that another merger shouldn't be sought until the current one is finished and the situation has stabilized. A positive balance sheet indicates the right direction, not arrival in the promised land.
I really think that Grinstien and DL want to exit as a stand alone carrier fist and be in a position of strength to do the dealing if such a consolidation is in the best interest of two carriers. Despite the a/c fleet differences and what not, DL is significantly ahead of NW in their reorganization and a merger there would be a difficult BUT POSSIBLE work that would benefit both groups. The only other mergers I see for DL in the years ahead is one with AS or CO. One with US or even UA would NEVER WORK and destroy both companies faster than an F-14 being catapulted from any US Navy CVN!
DELTA Air Lines; The Only Way To Fly from Salt Lake City; Let the Western Heritage always be with Delta!
Flaps From United States, joined Feb 2000, 747 posts, RR: 3 Reply 23, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 13 hours ago) and read 4694 times:
Parker is getting in way over his head. They arent nearly through integration yet on the existing merger and he wants another? Having just posted a large quarterly profit the former US employee groups will be all over him looking for givebacks and increases. They need to focus on getting their existing act together first. Any additional merger at this point for HP/US would be a disaster for them.
RwSEA From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 2513 posts, RR: 3 Reply 25, posted (3 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 4506 times:
Quoting ChrisNH (Reply 1): I don't understand these high-and-mighty airline execs who proudly puff out their 'we'll-exit-from-bankruptcy!' chests. The industry needs contraction; needs consolidation. You can say all you want about 'more people flying now than ever!' but the FACT remains that the industry cannot survive long-term with all these carriers. These Einstein executives may realize this, but then they get into a snit about who should be the acquirer and who should be the one being acquired. I'll bet that alone has scuttled many an otherwise sensible merger.
Hardly chest pounding at all. A US/DL merger makes no sense whatsoever. Completely different fleets. Heavily unionized vs. not heavily unionized. Duplicative hubs in ATL/CLT, PHL/JFK, and SLC/PHX. Additionally, the government would never let a single carrier dominate LGA and DCA in a way that a combined DL/US would. Plus the two don't even offer each other much. The combined carrier would still be weak in Asia and have a shortage of long-haul aircraft for further expansion. There would still be no effective west coast gateway for Asian expansion (sorry, PHX isn't on the west coast and wouldn't work).
However: US/NW would work wonders. Complimentary fleets and route maps. Leverage US strength in the Caribbean and Europe (at least compared with NW) with the NW Asia operation.
26 AlexPorter: I also think NW would be a good fit, as all of US's hubs are on/near the coasts while all of NW's hubs are in the middle of the country. They have sig
27 Etops1: like i said before i will say it again. it will be nw.
28 COERJ145: If they did merge w/NW, lets hope they would keep Parker, and oust Steenland. I'd flip out if Steenland stayed.
29 HPRamper: Hmmm...I make about $9.40 an hour. Do I need a pay cut? The idea that this speculated merger would happen anytime soon is nothing short of silly. Par
30 Fewsolarge: No kidding. Out of all the large carriers, US would be the worst possible network match for DL.
31 Dw9115: No, Airlines like America West had and have realistic pay scales however some airlines like Delta and Northwest (even with some of the concessions cu
32 AwysBSB: I believe B6 would have been a better option for US test a merger interest.
33 Mah584jr: I honestly don't think that Parker wants to merge with another airline until this current merger is finished. If Parker called DL or NW to ask them qu
34 MasseyBrown: In Parker's comments during the US 2nd quarter earnings conference call, he says that, based on his experience acquiring US, it's best if one of the m
35 DeltaSFO: Okay, sorry. I'll sit back and take notes as Dougie the Visionary pushes forward with the tried and true strategy of gutting the product and taking t
36 Axio: Call me crazy.. and forgive the crazy hypothesizing ...and I'm assuming that Delta could never afford it.. and there might possibly be some competitio
37 AANYC: Well than why dont all of us airline employees just work for free. A DL flight attendant currently tops out at less than $40.00 per flight hour. That
38 Commavia: I respect Parker, I really do, for what he was able to accomplish at America West by turning it from a hopeless trainwreck into one of the most stable
39 MalpensaSFO: NORTHWEST AIRLINES - US AIRWAYS Similarities NWA A333, A332, A319, A320, 752 US A333, A319, A320, 752 HP A319, A320, 752 Differences NWA 744, 753, DC
40 Bobnwa: The boss of the new airline would be whoever the investors wanted. The management of NW or US would have little say in the matter. Don't forget that
41 Flyboyaz: Doug is a great guy, I have a lot of respect for him and thank him for giving me a quality and secure work environment since 9/11. He and his team wil
42 OttoPylit: Mariner, I wasn't arguing with you, I was just adding to what you said. If anything, I was re-affirming your statements, with a little of my own 2 ce
43 CIDflyer: I think you are right on about this. I really think they have interest in NW, and NW and DL have been rumored as the marriage partners ever since the
44 Malexander131: Who said it be Delta doing the buying?
45 HPRamper: Okay, sorry. I was under the impression that a carrier in bankruptcy, on the brink of going under, has less to offer the customers than one that just
46 OttoPylit: Good question. Already answered, but good question: Now, I'm not saying that the larger guy always comes out on top, or the bigger guy, etc. In the p
47 Dw9115: $40 a hour is unrealistic for a F/A even though that is only pay during flight hours. Now if you know a extra language or two or have a degree you ca
48 ATLAaron: Above it was mentioned US and UA merging . . . how come no one has touched that? I really do think UA needs a merger but I am not sure it would be US.
49 Mariner: I hoped that, but I was just checking - you never know on a.net. What I find curious is that Mr. Parker is making no secert of his desire - his inten
50 Flaps: HPRamper, Im not going to contest the fact Parker is a smart man and knows this business. Im not even going to contest that he knows more than I. Take
51 DeltaSFO: It's not just taking the 10 F seats out of the A321s. It's the reduction of 16 to 12 seats on the US A320s. It's the addition of more coach seats to
52 Aanyc: Why dont we all work for minimum wage then? By the time $40 per flight hour is broken down you are lucky to be making $20 per hour. That's right I wo
53 HPRamper: I'm not arguing with your experience or qualifications. But do you really, honestly, deep down believe Parker is actually trying to get involved with
54 Dw9115: Unions are what have caused some of the airlines problems. Like I said look at what happened at the US steel industry and and the government had to s
55 SLCUT2777: The Steelworkers union wanted the federal government to nationalize it and protect the union way of life. The whole problem with unions is that the A
56 Mariner: Well, here you go - Mr. Parker would take on another merger before US/HP is complete: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/30/business/airline.php Ther
57 Flyboyaz: No I do not think he wants to do that at this time. Like I said before, he stated in the webcast that we have enough on our plate now...we don't need
58 Leelaw: From NYT article linked by Mariner in his Reply #56 (Fair Use Excerpt): ...Parker, with about two years of work ahead in completing the integration o
59 Flyboyaz: Well that's not the news we have been receiving. I'd bet more on the media misinterpreting the information, than them not giving their employees the c
60 HPRamper: I think this is a more realistic part of the article. "One senior airline executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a corporate po
61 Sean-SAN-: $40/flight hour breaks out to only about $42,000 a year... And that's for a senior FA... Maybe if you're still in High School, $42,000 seems like good
62 UAL777UK: Hmm, I know lots of employees, on the ground, in the air, behind the scenes of UA and not one has mentioned at any time that management is seeking mo
63 AAL0616: I find this very difficult to imagine, for all the reasons already mentioned: --- Equipment (in)compatability --- Hub city (in)compatability and overl
64 EXAAUADL: Sounds like Mr. Parkers ego is getting a bit ahead of himself
65 Halls120: Cutting money losing routes like JFK-LHR is a good example of cost cutting elsewhere.
66 PHLBOS: FYI, (and this has been stated many times before in past threads) WN's fuel hedges did NOT expire... they're just at a lower percentage than the prev
67 Flaps: I certainly hope not. I was impressed with his turnaround at HP but I have often questioned his going after US. Sometimes when a management team gets
68 Flyboyaz: Yeah, SHE probably had to pop some pills after seeing our 2nd quarter results! lol
69 Supa7E7: Doug P's merger tasks are almost DONE. The pilots need to become one merged work group (or not). Doug Parker's job is to look at 2008, 2009 and 2010.
70 Flaps: Big difference between aquiring and combining. While Dougie's visionary work may be done, his staff, his management, and his employees have a ton of w
71 Commavia: I think this is about the exact opposite of what should be on Doug Parker's mind at the moment. Merging to airlines is difficult enough -- perhaps on
72 Mariner: I guess he expects that everyone thinks that - including Delta CEO Grinstein: Then again - it may be that he sees a unique set of circumstances - Cha
73 HPRamper: Neither DL nor NW is anywhere close to twice as large as US, going by fleet size.
74 OttoPylit: Maybe so, but lets look at the facts. First, Grinstein has publicly stated that there is no intent for Delta to merge with anyone, whether acquiring
75 ILUVAA: Delta Air Lines (DL/DAL) and US Airways (US/USA) have very different fleet strategies Delta having an all Boeing fleet and US Airways transitioning to
76 Mariner: As noted above - what I have read is his statement that Delta intends to "emerge from bankruptcy" as a stand alone carrier. What happens after emerge
77 Junction: Bingo...but a lot of people honestly base merger success more on res systems, ticket counter signage and aircraft paint then they would on profits. T
78 Flaps: Practically everyone made money last quarter. Even UA managed to post a profit. One good quarter does not signal victory by a long shot. That said, US
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