US/HP Merger - Effect?
 

If the proposed merger of US and HP occurs, what effect will the new airline have on CO?

And as a side note - recently HP turned a profilt - albeit a smal one.

Probably going to keep fares lowers depending how the merged airlines finally configure their routes. It would HP quite a significant LCC and probably put more strain on the legacies.

Service impacts at PHX or PHL?
 

Would CO change the amount of service they have into the PHX and PHL hubs as a result of this potential merger?

The merger of US Airways and America West would be a good thing in general. Both are strong region carriers; e.g. AWA West Coast and US East Coast. They also have some common fleet types - esp in the Airbus catagory. I'm not sure about engines, but I'm not that technical of a person. Hopefully theyw ill be able to realieze some costs saving by combining operation.

Maybe we'll be really lucky and US will try to sell off the Shuttle operation, since it might not fit in with the new direction they seem to be heading.

Good Luck if it happens...

-Vincent

I think US's affilaition w/ HP will help speed up their demise. let's afce it, this company is shot and only had a pulse thanks to GE and the US Government. I'm all for this merger as I think it's leads to their demise FASTER than as 2 seperate companies.

Opportunity for CO and Jetblue/Song especially....

I tend to agree with you on this statement. Out of all of the possible mergers within the legacy carriers, this one makes the most sense due to the "barbell" effect of their regions and how they will compliment each other. Sure they will struggle a bit with the fleet integration, but if they follow AWs management style I think they will do okay.

As to how it will affect CO, I do not think it will be a huge additional blow considering that both carriers are already providing LCC level fares in most markets and/or SW serves the same cities. Long term this will continue to drag down revenue for CO but on the other hand it will benefit consumers.

i think CO should jump at this opp. wait for more details and then offer their version of an HP deal. we need the western presence.

they can sh!t can HP's 737's and 757's and add only one AC type to their fleet (319/320).

then, as bad as it may sound, let US air run its own course.

i have been wanting an HP/CO merger since before their codeshare deal days.

I agree - but...
 

I agree - BUT after HP made Gordon mad and they did away with the codeshare agreement - do you think Larry and company would even consider taking them over?

It is my understanding that the folks at CO were not very happy with HP becoming a LCC and providing a service level well below COs expectations. I too used the PHX hub a good amount as the fares were usually better and HP offered more options across the left coast. I will say that I am glad most of my segments on HP were short ones as I really was never impressed. In fact, for awhile I was calling them "Southwest with seating assignments and older planes"....

The fare simplification at American West is what really did it in for the Continental codeshare, that "situation" that may have occured when an America West agent was totally rude to Gordon was just icing on the cake I'm sure. It's funny how back in the day AWA changes fare structures to make it simplier and they get dropped, but Delta does a smiliar move and today (in light of alliances) a blind eye is sort of turned - everyone groans and moves on.

I'm looking forward to this consolidation... As I said I hope they sell the Shuttle - well I'm sure you know who I want to buy that ;)

-Vincent

Would that make good business sense for CO? Plus, is there even enough equipment to run it?

US is still running some of the shuttle flights with some 737s (300s or maybe 500s?) depending on the market. I think they could make some serious profit out of it, as even US makes money on the shuttle depite thier situation. Continental already owns the lease/the terminal. They already run shuttle like flight out of EWR -WAS and to some extent BOS. LGA would be a perfect compliment, not to mention Continental pre9/11 was looking to expand expressjet out of LGA, and this would present a perfect oppurtunity.

It's not a huge possibility Continental would make an offer for it, but its not impossible either.

-Vincent

What's Continental gonna offer, a wad of Continental currency??? maybe throw in some headset coupons too???? Do you suppose they could get a second mortgage on the extra engines and spare parts??? ;)

LOL, stock based transaction are always fun, but I don't see that happening in this case either..

-Vincent

Perhaps they could offer some of those surplus FC seats that are in storage as well....