Consolidation

[USstew23]

You are correct in that however the east was able to capitalize on the west hedges!!

Well you know you speak a lot of truth in that statement but loads missing as well, Like your statement of REAL int'l flying I guess flying the pacific was not REAL int'l and I guess the 747 was not a REAL widebody!! Turnover rate?? well lets just say that we have plenty of long term employees and I work with them on a regular basis. Lets further say that in the years leading up to the the buyout of the east that employees were leaving that place in droves!!! We all know that the pilots were furloughed 33% deep how about the FA's what was that percentage?? Be honest!!! I can't argue with you on the way your management staff treated you. There are simply no words to describe that type of thing.
Yes and that 747 flying across the Pacific that sometimes carried very few passengers to Japan............ FAILED and sent AWA straight into bankruptcy and real widebody??? Weren't they something like 4000 years old and dumped by KLM because they were junk?? The good friends that I have from AWA speak very fondly of those 747's and what JUNK they were. Well at least AWA is still consistent, trying to paw it's junk off on the unsuspecting public. And when speaking of the turnover rate I am not referring to US. That high turnover that you refer to was during 2 BK's and 3 wage and benefit cuts not during the "so called reaping of profits in PHX" that you refer to. The only buyouts I know of were the VFLR's and the current SEP. Maybe you should check your facts. I'd be embarrassed if I were you going on about profits that were/are being made on the backs of your hardworking underappreciated coworkers. Did you ever wonder why US has/had the most senior workforce in the industry? I'll tell you that it wasn't because it was a bad place to work.

And as far as US being the second choice, as I recall ATA went with a real airline and Southwest b!tch slapped your @$$#$ and told you where you could shove it, just like they usually do.

 

[EMBFA]

cynic: I don't work for west, I'm just tired of the posturing on the east side.



As are we of all of them, however, for those who aren't there are two threads to read, this is not one of them. Maybe be tired there? Here's a pillow. Bring your buds.

 

[Elevation]

Why don't you try to explain those 77 vacancies on the east in 2008 vs all that attrition you claim that the west was after!!! I'm waiting cause this lie has got to be good! C'mon eastus, you nos, AAA73 and other USAPA supporters tell us about all those vacancies you have been lying about... Please "flavor our agenda with that my man"

WAITING EastUs but lie well...

Why don't you use the other threads to start this crap or better yet go spend time representing the FO's in LAS instead of wasting union time here.

 

[orioleman]

Being a fleet employee ,
I can honestly say that from what our so called union leadership brought to us in the form of a tenative agreement to wrap up east/west employees

until 2012 .. really spells of a UA deal.. maybe because the IAM leadership Neg. our contract is a UNITED employee and BOARD member.. so I would agree

that yes .. US and UA are dating again , just trying to find a place and time to hook up..

 

[AWA320]

Why don't you use the other threads to start this crap or better yet go spend time representing the FO's in LAS instead of wasting union time here.

And that means what???

 

[yoyodyne]

And that means what???

Well, it is rather simple, it simply means, in pilot talk, to go pretend you are a PWJT8D without a hush kit, on the appropriate ALPO thread. Although you might not realize it, the airline industry is comprised of more than just pilots, it is not alway just ALL ABOUT ME!!
Apparently, most of the US Air pilots who post here, suffer from Naval Aviator Syndrome. What a shame.
Now can we get back on topic!! View attachment 6655

 

[Mrs. Doubtflier]

I do think that Parker and Tilton had meetings to see if they could get this party started but they disagreed on how to keep domestic flying profitable. Doug made a reference to it in one of the older crew news videos. I don't recall the exact statement but it was in the context that industry figures proved that you couldn't pander to only the business and FFlyers and stay in the black and that you had to market to the Ma and Pa Kettles too.

I love United and really thought it was going to happen but now US may be demonstrating lordosis behavior toward NW. We hired some of their former executives, close PIT (have DTW and MSP), NW needs a East Coast International Hub, they have lots of 330's on the way but desperately need a younger domestic fleet to replace their very old planes.

So that may be why Tilton is getting testy...US may be putting it on the streetcorner now.

Like it or not Doug continues to stay visible to the financial community and I don't think he cares if we buy or get bought. I don't care either. I just want to work for a safe and financially healthy airline because my health and wealth depend on those things. We all know that "who allegedly bought or who allegedly rescued who" makes a difference only to those who can't understand the imperatives of the industry today in 2007.

Look, let's just merge everybody and call it StarFleet. Then my uniform would include great looking boots and I could boldly go some places I have never been before.

You know Science Fiction has a weird way of becomong Science Fact....check out the "onboard advertisements" on the Starship Enterprise...especially the one on the lower left control panel.....

http://www.onedigitallife.com/images/star-trek-mad.jpg

 

[PHLfa88]

Why don't you try to explain those 77 vacancies on the east in 2008 vs all that attrition you claim that the west was after!!! I'm waiting cause this lie has got to be good! C'mon eastus, you nos, AAA73 and other USAPA supporters tell us about all those vacancies you have been lying about... Please "flavor our agenda with that my man"

WAITING EastUs but lie well...

And The West Is Still NOT Making Any Money For This Company! :blink:

 

[AWA320]

And The West Is Still NOT Making Any Money For This Company! :blink:

You sure about that or just guessing??? :unsure:

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

You sure about that or just guessing??? :unsure:

So what is your opinion on consolidation?

 

[AWA320]

So what is your opinion on consolidation?

Well it is needed that's for sure as the capacity we have here now is too much. Now will we be a part of the next round? I tend to think so which is why it is so important that we have our house in order first. Now if we are not and are left out of the next round we can expect that our operations will suffer greatly and the new USair will begin to suffer the same fate as the old.

 

[zethya]

I have always felt NW would be a much better partner for US than UA (and others). NW has the Asian routes, existing compatible aircraft (A33xs) AND will be the first U.S. carrier to get 787s (2008) - providing US with an ULH fleet at least 5 years earlier than currently planned (2014). The dilemma is that DTW has significant investment from NW over the years and is well positioned to serve Western Asia - as it does. However it is far less well positioned as an international hub for Europe, Eastern Asia, the Caribbean and South America than PHL and CLT (South). Additionally, although Detroit is a business destination in itself, it is essentially isolated from a large mega base, unlike the NE (NYC,PHL,BWI,WAS), and has less O&D (than PHL). However, aside from the potential economic advantages of an East Coast hub, the disadvantage would obviously be that the NW parts of DTW, being relatively new, are superior to the infrastructure of PHL. Additionally, although DTW has more winter delays than PHL, it does not suffer from the NE Corridor ATC problems. It would be interesting to know if DTW is NW's best profit center, or how at least it relates to MSP and other hubs. It is apparent, however, that no matter how difficult it may be to manage operationally, airlines realize that PHL is obviously worth it as an offset to a very lucrative profit center. I obviously ignore the magnitude of any potential employee integration problems in this scenario - something I believe the merging carriers would also do.

UA and US would probably only pass DOT muster if either one was segmented (sold off) into pieces before a merger. Additionally, the route structure of both airlines is so inbred (other than Asia), that it could be a can of worms to sort out and take forever.

US/DL = Maybe, but for it to work, I'd speculate that DL would be the acquirer and much of the existing US would be eliminated. That is, it would essentially be the erasure of a competitor. Probably not a good situation for employees. One prediction (Argumentative as it may appear) is that if DL and US did merge, I forecast JFK would be closed in favor of superior international facilities (A) and far less competition at PHL.
US/CO = No
US/AA = No

Over the past 2 years, I have reviewed essentially all of the earnings briefings for US and feel that the latest 2 or 3 have been used to subtly convey projected intentions without commitment. During the last analyst conference, two interesting statements were made. The first was regarding starting (future) South American flights from CLT - they have since applied for BOG. The second and most telling was Parker's statement to an analyst that US's consultants have told him that if consolidation is being planned, it would be best to start before year end - to take advantage of the Bush DOT.

 

[EMBFA]

I think the above is spot on... I think from most likely to least likely, it's UAL, NWA, then DAL a distant third.

USUA makes sense, or at least UAUSEast... either way it leaves room for a fair amount of capacity reduction. United would prefer Continental (not interested) or Delta (not likely to pass unless one is completely broken up).

USNW is a great carrier as far as route networks, with the most comprehensive domestic system along with decent transatlantic and an enviable Pacific network. The drawback is that like USHP there is almost no overlap... combining them just makes one big airline out of two. The point is to make a right sized airline out of two and take capacity out of the industry.

USDL is the ultimate 'capacity reduction' merger, as US is kind of the secondary, store brand Delta. Essentially the USHP network would be reduced to almost nothing. This was the idea last year, the only difference would be Delta would be running the show. Doubtful though, Delta seems more interested in thier SkyTeam partnersNW or CO.

USCO I just don't see, USAA wouldn't happen. I think AS could be involved with one of the others, but a combined USAS wouldn't be strong enough.

Just predicting, if there's not three pairings-off soon, I think it will be more of a "breakup" of an airline, either US Airways or United Airlines.

I also think it will all begin soon.