I'm wondering if US and AA really do have a plan B to codeshare or enter into some kind of partnership if the merger doesn't happen.
Originally Posted by
stockmanjr
I don't think they have a plan B...
Despite the revisionist history being spouted by AA management and its general counsel ("there is no Plan B"), the merger with US was clearly Plan B.
If the merger is blocked, then the AA creditors will have no other option than to return to Plan A, regardless of its perceived value. Or they could liquidate the company or entertain alternate Plans of Reorganization; neither of those is likely.
Part of Plan A (Horton's stand-alone plan) were planned codeshares with US on the Northeast Shuttle routes plus extensive codeshares with B6 and expansion of codeshares with AS.
As for widespread codesharing with US? Nope. The AA pilot agreement permits domestic codesharing with other airlines as long as the codeshare ASMs account for no more than 50% of the AA ASMs, or, in other words, domestic codeshares can total no more than 1/3 of the total AA+Codeshares. After accounting for the AS and B6 codeshares, AA would not be able to codeshare with US to the same extent as UA codeshares.