Juanefny

Well IF there is a merger and IF they start messing with AAdvantage and the first class offering, I'll be going right back where I came from, DL.

diver858

Delta executed well, especially in blending technology from Northwest and in keeping employee morale high. Executives and pilots also sidestepped a potential minefield by agreeing to a labor contract before the merger closed.

United pilots approved a new contract in December, putting an end to a thorny issue that had festered for years and harmed employee morale. New contracts and the integration of seniority lists are often sticking points after an airline merger, and United is still negotiating with other work groups.

I would like to believe that this is one of the major current sticking points in finishing a deal, remain optimistic that AMR will insist on LCC resolving its labor issues as a prerequisite. The Pilot MOU is interesting, but includes higher costs than the current AMR APA, is not a long-term, binding contract.

Carolinian

, , , which is one of the reasons that this thing is such a disaster for consumers, and why the Justice Department should have refused all the mergers.

Carolinian

Maybe if you were more active on that forum, you would realize that the DL merger is still a big disaster for its ff program.

jss

I wonder how the ruling in Chicago (Fed Court) against United will alter the perception that a future AA/US miles progrm will have 4-tiers. As most aware UA junked the 1MM lieftime status for pmUA 1MM customers by dropping them down a tier in the pecking order from Prem Exec. to Gold (by adding Plat level) and eliminating several of the benefits promised.

UA tried to get potential class action suit dropped by saying they have the right to change the program. Court said 1MM plantiffs appear to have suffered damages and that since UA did not mention 1MM program in MP T&C that a separate contract (various emails , website statements, etc...) appears to exist between UA the the pmUA 1mm flyers.

Will this deter a potential AA/US (or AA alone) from adding/modifying sturcture by adding a forth tier and then moving "lifetime" benefits down a notch?

UNITED959

No, but it will certainly impact the counsel of AA/US lawyers relative to any proposed AAdvantage changes.

littlemookie

I wonder if we may see dynamic award pricing. AA is testing it for elite members, and US Air currently uses dynamic award pricing. The basic sAAver award on AA has been 25k for a while now. With so many miles outstanding on the BS, a devaluation may be arriving.

Earn and burn!

kabroui

I flew PHX-MEX-PHX over New Years on US since I couldn't see justifying flying AA with a stopover in DFW for $200 more.

Believe me, my mind is NOT at ease.

Nasty service, dirty cabin, bad food, and whatever you do, if you're in F, don't look too deep into the armrest after you pull your tray out....there is something ALIVE in there

bubba198

American and the unsecured creditors have once again filed for an extension of their exclusivity period, this time until April 15. My interpretation is that a merger is far from a slam dunk. The merger has obvious advantages for the financial types in terms of size, pricing power, cost reductions through the elimination of redundancies. But as so many of us have incredulously observed how can it work with Dougie's promises, bringing the US employees back into the real world in terms of pay, and giving back more of the bkr cost reductions to the AAL unions to say nothing of our skepticism as customers.

I can understand why they keep needing more time.

nall

I concur, I've paid for F on US Airways and it's not a very good product.

Even without dynamic award pricing (which I'd guess is not popular), a devaluation of some sort is likely. The award chart hasn't been changed in a while,

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

The NDA for bondholders expires on 2/15 and all parties seem to want an answer by then. This dance between USAir and AA has been going on since Labor Day when the original NDA was signed. So it should be a go or no go within the next two weeks but I agree this thing is anything but a slam dunk. In particular, is what to do with Horton. Even after Parker got the love of the unions they are now demanding that Horton must go. The question is will the Board make Horton the sacrificial lamb (and in doing so probably pay out some big bucks in severance) to make a deal.

elitetraveler

Crandall suggested the industry be re-regulated

Unfortunately what customers like - more legroom - easy upgrades - generous frequent flier programs - don't seem to necessarily correlate to financial success for an airline.

nkedel

I'm increasingly of the opinion that new regulation is needed.

We got the good from de-regulation over a period of about 20 years afterwards, but except for the convenient aspects of online sales and e-ticketing (and neither of those are all good) it's really been all down-hill since the mid-late 1990s (with the crap airlines pulled "because of TWA800," and then the security theater since Sept 2001)

CPRich

How would adding government regulation to the airlines make security hassles better? You think a new government agency will reduce the impact of another government agency (TSA/DHS)?

Stripy

If the unions think they're in for a big say in what happens then I'd suggest that they're the ones dreaming. Their power and influence is waning and will continue to wane as time progresses.