JUSTICE DEPT SUES TO BLOCK US/AA MERGER

[Deleted member 14439]

Gas goes up my taxes go up my health insurance goes up everything goes up. Increase the price of an airline ticket and it becomes a problem. WTF. Regulate the industry so these airlines can make money instead of making us subsidize the price of a ticket.

BUMP

 

[robbedagain]

i read an article thru www.justplanenews.com (dont remember the paper's name but it was linked on justplanenews.com) that bill baer the anti trust division made interesting comments pertaining that the merger CAN STILL be done this yr.. however the airlines refused to negogiate and will go to court over the objections..

 

[1AA]

Could it be that AA filed BK with over 5 billion in cash?
Could it be that AA filed BK with the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history?
Could if be that AA filed BK and all the financing for this aircraft order stayed in place?
Could it be that AA filed BK to terminate all union contracts?
Could it be that AA filed BK to terminate the pensions but ended up freezing them?
Could it be that AA will give Horton his nearly 20 million severance package?

 

[dfw gen]

Could it be that AA filed BK with over 5 billion in cash?
Could it be that AA filed BK with the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history?
Could if be that AA filed BK and all the financing for this aircraft order stayed in place?
Could it be that AA filed BK to terminate all union contracts?
Could it be that AA filed BK to terminate the pensions but ended up freezing them?
Could it be that AA will give Horton his nearly 20 million severance package?

naw nothing to do with it. your out of order brother!

 

[AANOTOK]

AA labor is not going to like the reality that AA mgmt and creditors will come back to them looking for deeper cuts in order to cut costs further.

The merger provided me with a 4.3 percent raise via the MOU and took away my profit sharing...those are the only things that will change. The equity is probably gone or less than it would have been because AA will not come out as strong as it would have with the merger (imo). As for your assumption that "labor is not going to like the reality that AA mgmt and creditors will come back to them looking for deeper cuts" is wrong. We just signed a six year contract that had nothing to do with the merger...what we gave up was per the 1113 and it is finalized. What are they gonna do, threaten us with BK II before they ever emerge from I.

On a side note, I am still in the small camp that believes the merger will still go through, albeit drastically different and a ways down the road.

 

[xmarlin]

Do we have to keep Horton?

 

[eolesen]

If the merger is scuttled, you not only keep Horton, but Garton, Ream, and all the others who would have likely left. And a few who already had jobs lined up may still wind up leaving.

It's a good thing AA had all the managers and HDQ staff essentially re interview for their jobs as part of Cascade, and again as part of the merger prep. Now they'll know who they don't need to keep even though the merger isn't happening, and who to promote...

And yes, I don't see anything that says the company can't try to reopen S1113 as long as they haven't exited court supervision. It's not a one-trip salad bar, unfortunately. But it would have to be a pretty significant reason, and aside from the pension freeze vs. terminate, I'm not sure what else they could hope to gain. What they might do is look at some other contracts or leases, and perhaps put them up for cancellation...

 

[WorldTraveler]

AANOTOK,
I have said here repeatedly that the wage that individual AA workers receive is not the problem. The labor cost problem is that AA has had too many employees for too much of the past decade for the size of the operation it has had and thus the efficiency of its workforce has been below that of other carriers.

In BK, AA has reduced its headcount but it still needs to significantly grow its network to full "fit" into the size of its workforce.

It is simply very risky to believe that AA can grow as much as it needs given the highly competitive nature of the industry, including aggressive low fare carriers on one end and larger competitors like DL and UA on the other end.

My concern has also always been that AA tried far too long to protect its then-shareholders at considerable risk to its ability to successfully restructure and become a viable airline post BK and years after other carriers have successfully restructured and in some cases merged.

The creditors are now really under the gun to find a solution to ensure AA's viability. I'm not saying they will do so but the chances are really high that they will turn to what they can do to most quickly secure their investment in AA.

 

[Show me the money]

Lets step back a minute and look at this. The only real thing that the DOJ has objected to is Hortons 20 Mil payout. According to bankruptcy law this is not legal. The company and all their arrogance has said they will proceed with the payout. For all those saying that this is Obama and Holder out to get you, RELAX. This merger is going to happen it is to late to close Pandora's Box. The company will not get to have their cake and eat it too. This is the governments way of getting the companies attention. With the stock price going down, pressure will mount on the company to deal. They will need satisfy creditors and lenders who have the most to loose.

 

[AAviator]

Freedom you are funny. Best thing for aa is for the take over NOT to happen. Job security that's a joke

10-4

AA's doing much better sans USairways..

Let USAirways die on the vine.. New hires will get qualified there and leave for greener pastures.. It will be a revolving door there like TWA was in the 80's and early 90'S

Let AA take the shuttle, and DCA.

Let Southwest have PHL.

Let UAL ahve CLT

Lets move on.... 🙂 🙂

 

[Real tired]

Lets step back a minute and look at this. The only real thing that the DOJ has objected to is Hortons 20 Mil payout. According to bankruptcy law this is not legal. The company and all their arrogance has said they will proceed with the payout. For all those saying that this is Obama and Holder out to get you, RELAX. This merger is going to happen it is to late to close Pandora's Box. The company will not get to have their cake and eat it too. This is the governments way of getting the companies attention. With the stock price going down, pressure will mount on the company to deal. They will need satisfy creditors and lenders who have the most to loose.

I sure hope so.

We started sanding off the Star Alliance logos already. I'd sure hate to have to repaint them back on.

 

[AAviator]

Lets step back a minute and look at this. The only real thing that the DOJ has objected to is Hortons 20 Mil payout. According to bankruptcy law this is not legal. The company and all their arrogance has said they will proceed with the payout. For all those saying that this is Obama and Holder out to get you, RELAX. This merger is going to happen it is to late to close Pandora's Box. The company will not get to have their cake and eat it too. This is the governments way of getting the companies attention. With the stock price going down, pressure will mount on the company to deal. They will need satisfy creditors and lenders who have the most to loose.

Nah, the right pockets havent been lined enough... or yet..

 

[FWAAA]

Let UAL have CLT

Lets move on.... 🙂 🙂

What?!? If you let UA have CLT, how will AA connect the extremely profitable RIC-JAX passengers?

 

[swamt]

On a side note, I am still in the small camp that believes the merger will still go through, albeit drastically different and a ways down the road.

I agree. But there is still a strong feeling that the merger is not going to happen due to the concessions that it would take to get it done are too great for the airlines to pursue...

 

[UPNAWAY]

If it is completely scuttled they would have to go back through BK resulting in more layoffs and cuts.