AAMRQ: TPG, US Airways (LCC) and Delta (DAL) consider bids for AMR Corp-- WSJ ($0.36)
 

• Citing sources, the WSJ reports that Dal believes a deal with AMR Corp could get anti-trust approval
• The WSJ also notes that TPG is looking to work with another airline on a bid for the company.

Let's hope this doesn't happen.


The article titled "Delta, US Airways, TPG Assessing Bids for American Airlines Parent", by Gina Chon, Susan Carey and Mike Spector, begins

Delta Air Lines Inc., US Airways Group Inc. and private-equity firm TPG Capital are separately assessing possible bids for American Airlines parent AMR Corp., with hopes that its troubles present another opportunity for airline consolidation, people familiar with the matter said.

and

Any bid for AMR likely would come many months from now, after the company tackles a host of issues confronting it during bankruptcy proceedings.

The article in its entirety (subscription required) can be read here.

Why? What's wrong with a merger? I personally would be thrilled to see AA and DL merged into one, but that is in part because of where I live and where I travel. Can't imagine AA-DL would really manage to get approval, but what do I know.

Oneworld merges with Skyteam :D

It would only benefit us as consumers if they kept the AA network relatively intact AND converted SkyPesos to AAdvantage, not the other way around.

If this happens, it will be time to say bye bye to Flyertalk. At that point, there will be too few players in the market that elite status will become based on actual spending vs miles, making mileage running something that will be in our memories.

A DL merger would be great for routing out of the NY area, but I'm afraid that being an elite will mean much less.

Please tell me this is a cruel joke.

I don't see it happening. The DOJ isn't going to let the nation's #2 and #3 airlines in terms of size consolidate.

So basically, DL or TPG+US (I'm assuming UA/WN would have 0 interest, and any others domestically would be too small). I cannot see removing one of the four international USA majors. It would also all but destroy Oneworld as an alliance, since a combined DL/AA would go to Skyteam.

I could only see what would effectively be a DL and US split of AA, at least from a pass by the regulators point of view. There's no way US would take a DL move on AA lying down, and US would be more likely to get a merger past the regulatory bodies. If one more merger happens among the USA majors (no matter who), it will definitely be the last in terms of domestic carriers.

Well, there are market realities. They can't force a business to exist just to maintain competition. What if the DOJ agreed to approve the merger subject to certain conditions. For example, the new airline would not be allowed to have a FF program, giving all the other airlines a compeative advantage? Or the new airline would be required to submit all fare pricing to a "fare pricing board" for 10 years to avoid monopoly pricing?

See post #3 ;) It's the only way to survive against Star.

DL+AA sounds good to me... definitely preferable to US+AA. The mobile phone business eventually stabilized at three major carriers, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the endgame in airlines as well. WN will be one of them, so further consolidation is coming.

Lets hope this doesnt happen. Being an elite will be almost worthless.

here is the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...DDLETopStories

I think a private equity takeover would be a disaster. At least Delta and US Airways know how to run an airline. I image a DAL merger would be a difficult sell to regulators, though I can see why they would make a lot of concessions to ditch Skyteam for (or combine with) Oneworld.

This would be a perfect match. AA's presence in both Asia and Europe is weak where DL is strong. AA would complement DL's presence in Central and South America.

There would still be plenty of competition around. In the domestic market UA, US, WN, B6, VX, AS etc.