Originally Posted by gegarrenton
(Post 17976938)
That's all fine and well except Parker hasn't even convinced half of HIS employees to merge with the other half!
Add AA's bad labor juju on top of that for a real bizarre dynamic. maybe they would all neutralize each other in the confusion, but I think it would go from ultra ugly to hideous fast. |
^ Exactly!
They are still discussing, among other issues, seniority lists. Kind of reminds me of Republic's airplane running out of fuel, iirc, because of lack of CRM between pilots from two merged airlines (Hughes and Republic, iirc). For those interested in a discussion on the difference between mergers and acquisitions in the airline business, there's a good and short study here in PDF form. (Mergers & Acquisition in Aviation Industry:.Issues & Concerns, by Julie Desai) I could see some AA employees considering sackcloth, ashes and wrist slitting with a US/AA "merger", particularly if they have spoken to original US employees.
Originally Posted by gegarrenton
(Post 17976938)
That's all fine and well except Parker hasn't even convinced half of HIS employees to merge with the other half!
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Originally Posted by Clipper110A
(Post 17979665)
My admittedly anecdotal impression of the East-West pilots from talking to several is that they HATE each other mutually and collectively in a way that has happened at no other airline merger in history.
Add AA's bad labor juju on top of that for a real bizarre dynamic. maybe they would all neutralize each other in the confusion, but I think it would go from ultra ugly to hideous fast. Yes it could get really messy but Parker doesn't seem to be fazed by that prospect. |
AA is last to the ball (Bankruptcy), it gets to dance with the ugly sister (USairways).
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My apologies if it is already being discussed somewhere, but this Reuters article from last night reports that AA's unsecured creditors "want AMR management to explore other options that may lead to a better recovery of their claims [than AA's stand-alone plan], including a potential combination with another carrier."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...81801K20120209 |
Originally Posted by longtimelurker
(Post 17981624)
My apologies if it is already being discussed somewhere, but this Reuters article from last night reports that AA's unsecured creditors "want AMR management to explore other options that may lead to a better recovery of their claims [than AA's stand-alone plan], including a potential combination with another carrier."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...81801K20120209 From a customer perspective, I think most things would remain the same in a merger due to the larger size of AA compared to US. Looking at past mergers, Delta and NWA essentially left the Delta passengers the winners with the Skymiles program as the survivor, United and Continental left United's Mileage Plus intact with some improvements based on benefits that Continental passengers had grown to know and love, and USAir/America West left Dividend miles intact. In each case, the larger carriers name survived, the plane were painted to match rebranding, and the resulting carrier was actually better for the customers. If USAirways acquires AA (or Vice versa) the name will no doubt be AA, the planes will be repainted, the Advantage program will remain intact, and we will have a couple more destinations that have Admirals Clubs. The only other change will be that now there will be three groups of employees that hate each other and collectively hate management. |
Originally Posted by NorthCentralDC3
(Post 17982966)
The article quoted above takes some of the emotions out of this. Ultimately, the outcome - standalone, acquired by US, split into pieces will be based on where the creditors believe they face the greatest ability to recover their investments of money. The employee groups will no doubt continue to pursue the standalone option unless they begin to question long term viability. Boeing and others probably want some form of merger. The only scenario where an Eastern Airlines style "sell of the pieces" would come into play would be if the employees prove intransigent in agreeing to lowered labor costs.
From a customer perspective, I think most things would remain the same in a merger due to the larger size of AA compared to US. Looking at past mergers, Delta and NWA essentially left the Delta passengers the winners with the Skymiles program as the survivor, United and Continental left United's Mileage Plus intact with some improvements based on benefits that Continental passengers had grown to know and love, and USAir/America West left Dividend miles intact. In each case, the larger carriers name survived, the plane were painted to match rebranding, and the resulting carrier was actually better for the customers. If USAirways acquires AA (or Vice versa) the name will no doubt be AA, the planes will be repainted, the Advantage program will remain intact, and we will have a couple more destinations that have Admirals Clubs. The only other change will be that now there will be three groups of employees that hate each other and collectively hate management. But the idea that a merger would turn AA into some kind of pseudo Spirit Airlines is just too much FT unnecessary worrying. |
Originally Posted by NorthCentralDC3
(Post 17982966)
.... The only scenario where an Eastern Airlines style "sell of the pieces" would come into play would be if the employees prove intransigent in agreeing to lowered labor costs.
..... The only other change will be that now there will be three groups of employees that hate each other and collectively hate management. PS - NorthCentralDC3, did you have the opportunity to fly the DC-3? |
Originally Posted by Science Goy
(Post 17951361)
US is the one company I've consistently boycotted, even when their fares were significantly lower than competitors'. Worst airline ever.
Actually, they're pretty good these days. on time flights, clean airplanes. Their soft product isn't as nice as AA, but they aren't as bad as many others anymore. Jeff |
Originally Posted by crazyMRer
(Post 17972595)
AA has quite a few non LHR flights:
AA metal: 37 Europe flights, 26 routes, 13 cities in Europe JFK-LHR 4x JFK-CDG 2x JFK-MAN 1x JFK-BRU 1x JFK-ZRH 1x JFK-MXP 1x JFK-FCO 1x JFK-BCN 1x JFK-MAD 1x ORD-LHR 4x ORD-HEL 1x ORD-DUB 1x ORD-MAN 1x ORD-CDG 1x ORD-FCO 1x DFW-LHR 3x DFW-FRA 1x DFW-CDG 1x DFW-MAD 1x MIA-LHR 1x MIA-CDG 1x MIA-MAD 1x LAX-LHR 1x BOS-LHR 3x BOS-CDG 1x RDU-LHR 1x US metal: 24 Europe flights, 22 routes, 16 cities in Europe PHL-FRA 2x PHL-DUB 1x PHL-GLA 1x PHL-MAN 1x PHL-LHR 1x PHL-AMS 1x PHL-BRU 1x PHL-CDG 1x PHL-MUC 1x PHL-ZRH 1x PHL-VCE 1x PHL-ATH 1x PHL-FCO 1x PHL-BCN 1x PHL-LIS 1x PHL-MAD 1x CLT-FRA 2x CLT-DUB 1x CLT-LGW 1x CLT-CDG 1x CLT-FCO 1x CLT-MAD 1x European cities served by AA, not US: MXP HEL European cities served by US, not AA: GLA AMS MUC VCE ATH LIS Don't forget that US serves PHL-TLV. |
Originally Posted by BF263533
(Post 17983712)
Eastern Airlines was brought down by intransigent management and intransigent employees. There are probably a few senior AA & US employees around who came from Eastern. Being an Eastern frequent flyer, I watched that saga go on for years. During Eastern's last year there seemed to be good cooperation, and service was improving, but it was just too late to save Eastern.
PS - NorthCentralDC3, did you have the opportunity to fly the DC-3? |
Originally Posted by NorthCentralDC3
(Post 17982966)
If USAirways acquires AA (or Vice versa) the name will no doubt be AA, the planes will be repainted, the Advantage program will remain intact, and we will have a couple more destinations that have Admirals Clubs. The only other change will be that now there will be three groups of employees that hate each other and collectively hate management.
As I don't frequent the US forum, it seems the only time I ever run a lot into US FFs on FT is during GrandSlam, when a bunch of them barrage the forums of partners -- hotels, rental cards, etc -- trying to figure out specific ways to get "hits" from that partner. I shudder at the thought of the much greater number of AA FFs doing the same thing if AA started doing Grand Slam yearly! :) |
Originally Posted by Clipper110A
(Post 17979665)
My admittedly anecdotal impression of the East-West pilots from talking to several is that they HATE each other mutually and collectively in a way that has happened at no other airline merger in history.
Add AA's bad labor juju on top of that for a real bizarre dynamic. maybe they would all neutralize each other in the confusion, but I think it would go from ultra ugly to hideous fast. |
Originally Posted by jeffhacker
(Post 17984024)
Actually, they're pretty good these days. on time flights, clean airplanes. Their soft product isn't as nice as AA, but they aren't as bad as many others anymore.
Jeff |
Originally Posted by jeffhacker
(Post 17984061)
Don't forget that US serves PHL-TLV.
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