Originally Posted by
VegasGambler
Just because they got bought does not mean that they were not sustainable. Had they not been bought they probably would have survived.
No, they would not have. The VX shareholders were desperate to unload the airline. At some point they would have simply gone away. AS bought them for two reasons:
1. to keep Jet Blue from getting them
2. To get "some" of the routes that VX flew (which, IMHO was a fools errand). AS has already dropped many of the legacy routes.
The damage that this acquisition has caused to AS will be overcome (I hope) but the problems this merger has caused has done serious damage to the AS brand.
AS is spending tons of money to build a national brand/route network. I hope it will work in the long run.