Originally Posted by
B787938
To me, the AS and VX combo is starting to seem eerily similar to the UA and CO merger. Perhaps my view is very simple, but it seems like AS management is taking their employees' and customers' good will toward the airline for granted.
Umm... yes and no. UA/CO managers set out to teach their "overentitled" customers a lesson. They imagined they could exploit / bleed captive constituents while stripping down operations and shifting lift to garbage regionals, and make bank. AS doesn't harbor that sort of contempt for its base -- not even in the executive suite.
But -- the AS view of the world is something like the sheltered, parochial pre-merger CO view: you dig in at a couple of key markets, shut out the rest of the world, and tell yourself you're the bestest airline ever, darn it. ANC and SEA are to AS as IAH and EWR were to CO. Continental ended up non-competitive in that posture. Hate to think of what awaits AS in a similar posture.