Originally Posted by
sfozrhfco
Perhaps operationally as AS took over the VX assets and everything was done according to AS rules and procedures, etc. The fleet was tiny, everything was just moved to AS FF program and reservation system. Even the past flying from VX loyalty members was completely dismissed in calculating life time flying. This was obviously much easier than merging two giant airlines together and trying to take things--even as simple as the livery--from both.
Financially, it is still very much a question as to whether or not it will be a fiasco for AS. ALK share holders have certainly not benefited from the 100 to 60 share price drop.
Yes, this was an acquisition (of an airline with a clearly failed business model), not a merger. It remains true that they have handled the integration very smoothly, even if customers of that airline with a failed business model don't like the changes to the customer experience. (
sfozrhfco's position on the matter is clear.)
This has been rehashed once or thrice in this forum, but the relevant comparison is not how ALK share holders were doing before and after the merger but how they were doing before and how they would be doing if B6 had bought VX instead. It is not clear whether AS will remain financially successful when this merger is fully shaken out, but I doubt they would have been in good shape if B6VX were a very large west coast and transcon competitor.