SmisekEra1K

I disagree. Tilton wanted to leave the CEO spot for some time, but he literally could not get someone decent to replace him, or even serve as a solid #2 of pre-merger United.

george 3

I don't know why the board or creditor committee would allow Horton to move forward with the rebranding/new livery/new logo program if the merger is "all done".

scubadu

Indeed, showing right here on the FT channel with the usual cast of characters in starring roles...

Regards

Carolinian

Absolutely, this crappy merger would mean Parker's union bribes would destroy everything Horton has accomplished in bankruptcy, and just to feed Parker's ego and lust for power.

taliesin

I'm sorry but this is just mistaken. In most large US public companies nowadays, the CEO and the Chairman are the same individual, so discussing the relationship between management and the board is kind of pointless, as the other directors are generally rubber-stamps for the CEO. But in cases where the Chairman and the CEO are different people, the Chairman can in fact be quite powerful because he has considerable say in whether or not the CEO keeps his job. But whether or not the Chairman actually could or would utilize that power depends on the specific circumstances of the company.

FWAAA

Edward Brennan, former CEO of Sears, was named Chairman of the Board when Carty resigned in April, 2003 and Arpey was named CEO. A year later, Arpey was named Chairman.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/st...7/daily20.html

Did Brennan provide anything more than a rubber stamp for the young Arpey? Was Brennan's position symbolic? That sounds like it has the makings of a "tastes great - less filling" argument.

diver858

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100407978

I could not find a reference to this; few days old, some good insights, questionable commentary.

"The operational challenges we faced last summer influenced corporate customers," Rainey said. "Some of our corporate customers took a detour while the road was under construction."

Really? Or did AA lure them away, as they are now doing with DL's DMs.

One factor in 2013 expectations is that costs will rise due to improved labor contracts, some already signed and some still being negotiated. Rainey said United's 2013 cost per available seat mile, excluding fuel and special items, will rise between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent this year, with 2.5 points of that related to new labor agreements, including a pilot contract that eliminated some of the concessions made during United's bankruptcy. Rainey called that a "mark to market adjustment
At the moment, US Airways pilots are voting on a memorandum of understanding that would temporarily do the same thing, bringing their wages to American levels. A longer-term contract would follow.
Would like to know where they picked that up from.

As for the America West/US Airways merger, it started out well as route consolidation produced sharply higher RASM. But in 2007 US Airways' on-time performance was the worst in the industry, largely because of a March 2007 computer meltdown resulting from the effort to merge two computer systems. Also, the failure to successfully complete pilot seniority integration has been a lingering embarrassment, one that could resurface as US Airways and American pilots seek to merge their seniority lists.
Who is niave enough to believe that AMR even consider getting involved in LCC's labor mess.

diver858

In the event there is a merger, there appears to be a consensus that the AA name will be used; rebranding is long past due, timed for the exit from BK11, new aircraft.

remedy

UA IS that terrible.

grahampros

Because either way it will be the new brand of AA. All parties have said publicly that AA would be the surviving brand.

SmisekEra1K

Hypothetically, a nonexecutive Chairman can in fact be quite powerful, as you suggest. In reality, however, nonexecutive Chairmen typically refrain from utilizing their power because the mere act of doing so often roils the investment community and negatively affects a company's stock price. If Horton serves as nonexecutive Chairman, he'll probably do for Parker what Tilton did for Smisek -- show him around the executive suite, give a few words of advice on who should stay/go, shake some hands in Washington, then spend much of his time traveling or with other business pursuits.

edwards183

I don't know about that. I think that when the details come out you will find that Parker and LCC totally overpaid for AA. Parker is going to go back on the deal he initially made with the AA unions and the LCC unions will be quite happy with the pay boost that they will get from the new AA. (They might not be that happy about how the seniority lists get combined) I have a feeling that the old HP crews might get the short end of the stick. How the new combined entity is going to pay for those pay increases is yet to be seen.

My thoughts.. PHX = focus city, just not enough high rasm traffic to support the new pay structure. PHL = secondary TATL hub but domestic will scale back. (Giving up those LGA slots looks real dumb right now. AA would have been dominant with them) The real gem is CLT, but a bunch those Caribbean and South American routes will trend to MIA.

I'll say it again, whenever merging companies say that they are going to lower costs and increase revenue through synergy. Sell short or buy puts if someone is stupid enough to write them.

fly747first

1. It is true that US Airways was days away from liquidating, but without US Airways, Parker knew that America Pest wouldn't last long, probably no more than 7 months.

2. Right after the merger, US Airways went downhill in every aspect. Not only was US at the bottom of pretty much every survey out there, but even operationally, Parker pushed the small US long-haul aircraft fleet to its limit during the summers (back then US had not yet received any A330-200s) and it was pure chaos and the subject of many threads both inside and outside of FlyerTalk. Oh, and let us not forget that it was Parker the one who had the super moronic idea of charging for soft drinks, which of course no other major network airline followed since it doesn't take a genius to figure out that US Airways wouldn't survive with the same business model of 2-star Spirit.

3. Indeed, US Airways now has a very competitive international J class (certainly better than the current AA, DL, and UA long-haul J offerings in my opinion), but it took Parker numerous years to understand something quite simple when it was beyond evident that his idea of operating long-haul flights like a low-cost airline just wouldn't work. The only thing I do give Parker credit for is hiring a highly capable VP of Inflight Services--Hector, who is the brain behind the new Envoy Suites and all the recent product upgrades.

bkkth

Assuming the merger goes thru, wouldn't this be a good time to get a USAir Mastercard and the miles that come with it?

nall

You can always hedge your bets and get one now.