JUSTICE DEPT SUES TO BLOCK US/AA MERGER

[700UW]

Wrong again, all their CBAs were settled before the merger agreement was reached.

The MOUs go away.

 

[UPNAWAY]

AA was cutting 10k jobs in BK as a stand alone those where all saved and predicated onthe merger.

 

[UPNAWAY]

My guess is the BK Judges issues his ruiling in the next few days as if the merger is still going through. Otherwise you are looking at least another year in BK.

 

[Jacobin777]

I'm very happy this forced marriage orchestrated by Dougie, and the APA might not take place. AA doesn't need the nightmare that is America West/ US Air.

+1

Call it what you want, but the deal was all about market concentration. That's never been a good think for anyone in the long run.

There's another wildcard I'd overlooked while peeing in glee (according to the last post).

It would appear the 18 month exclusivity clause is now expired.

By the letter of the law, it would appear an unsolicited and competing bid can be submitted by outside parties, e.g. Indigo or TPG.

That would be the ultimate pissing in someone's Wheaties, no?

Interesting observation. AA and TPG have done things in the past (IIRC) so with AA in better financial shape, maybe TPG and/or a consortium of investors can get interested in AA.

The DOJ approves Delta and United mergers but won't approve American USAir?

What a bunch of crooks.

Hopefully this goes to trial and we get an honest judge.

Each case is different and unique. Just because the other mergers were approved doesn't mean this one will or should.

Also, I prefer AA's management over US's management.

The DoJ publicly said today that concessions won't change their mind; at this point, their goal is to stop the merger under their Clayton Act powers.

Unless the DoJ is bluffing, appeasing the DoJ would be pointless now that Justice has filed its suit to block the merger.

Procedurally, the DoJ has laid out their case and will present evidence. If the judge finds that the government has satisfied its burden and shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the merger would lessen competition, then the judge will rule for the government. It's not a criminal case - it's civil, so there's no "beyond a reasonable doubt" out for US-AA. The government doesn't file suits like this unless it thinks it can win.

If the court rules against the merger, it's game over. No merger.

Oh, sure, "we'll appeal" says Parker. Odds of getting the decision overturned are very long.

If there is a trial, expect disclosure of lots of additional stupidity by the executives like the emails and memos mentioned in the complaint.

+1.

I have always been against this merger (on record) and upon learning of the comments from US management, I really hope this merger doesn't go through.

And it may be that US will fight because they would have to pay if it didn’t fight… so it fights to avoid having to pay the breakup fee.

Since the BK judge in New York hasn't signed off on the merger yet, Parker might not have a choice.

Do we have to keep Horton?

YES! Though many people do not like Horton, he's done a phenomenal job with AA. From guiding it through BK to the blockbuster order with Boeing/Airbus (saving billions of $$$ for AA), to how he has placed AA to become an excellent carrier, IMHO, Horton should be given a chance.

Certainly more than Parker.

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....

I think CLT could be an important hub,etc. for AA.

 

[FWAAA]

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

False.

AA was cutting 10k jobs in BK as a stand alone those where all saved and predicated onthe merger.

No, that's false. AA reached new labor agreements in 2012, prior to the merger. None of the AA labor agreements contemplates a merger.

My guess is the BK Judges issues his ruiling in the next few days as if the merger is still going through. Otherwise you are looking at least another year in BK.

Wrong again. The POR hearing is stayed for 30 days because of the government's lawsuit to block the merger.

 

[AirwAr]

I'm very happy this forced marriage orchestrated by Dougie, and the APA might not take place. AA doesn't need the nightmare that is America West/ US Air.

+1

 

[iluvaa]

Thx fwaaa for correcting the stupid post on here

 

[robbedagain]

if the merger is scuttled completely aa folks could see even more drastic cuts hope not for you aa folks

 

[FWAAA]

if the merger is scuttled completely aa folks could see even more drastic cuts hope not for you aa folks

No, that's just your imagination run amok. AA reached new, efficient labor agreements, resulting in labor cost reductions of 17%, in the summer and fall of 2012 before the merger was agreed to by the UCC and AA management. None of those agreements were predicated on a merger with US or anyone else. Why are US employees fabricating so much false info today?

AA could theoretically file new 1113 motions and attempt to cut costs further, but why, exactly, would managment do that? The employees would become unglued. New 1113 motions, negotiations and settlement could take 6 months to a year. No way would AA management do that. AA already has six year agreements with pilots, FAs, maintenance and fleet that, to paraphrase the APA, give AA a six year holiday from paying UA or DL payrates. Of the legacy airlines, only US has lower pilot and FA payrates, and the US FAs raised theirs earlier this year (not quite as high as AA, but close). Eventually, the US pilots will get raises, probably bringing their pay above AA's pay.

 

[robbedagain]

if the us n aa merger is completely scuttled i would not bet anytime soon that us pilots would get raises giving their on going childish type feud its not my imagination but im looking down the road in the long run in say 1 yr 3 yrs 5 yrs with dl and ua being the big boys on the block w swa aa and us wont be anywhere close to them and thats gotta set off alarms dont ya think

 

[FWAAA]

if the us n aa merger is completely scuttled i would not bet anytime soon that us pilots would get raises giving their on going childish type feud its not my imagination but im looking down the road in the long run in say 1 yr 3 yrs 5 yrs with dl and ua being the big boys on the block w swa aa and us wont be anywhere close to them and thats gotta set off alarms dont ya think

My bad - I thought you were talking about further paycuts at AA right NOW, as in before AA emerges from CH 11.

Sure, without a merger, perhaps, maybe, AA employees will have to give back more. That isn't going to matter when the court decides whether the merger goes forward.

I don't know how closely you've been following AA and UA, but in 2012, AA made up a lot of ground on UA and so far in the first half of 2013, UA is not making up any of the ground it lost to AA in 2012. UA had a higher mainline yield in 2011 than did AA, but in 2012, AA flipped that around and had a mainline yield of almost half a cent more than UA. So far in the first half of 2013, that yield spread has remained. AA gets higher fares per revenue ASM than UA and AA's costs are dropping, while UA's costs are rising.

AA's costs have come down a lot. UA's costs are going up. US costs? Depends on whether the pilots at US ever figure out how to abide by binding arbitration and realize that management is the enemy, not their co-workers. If that never happens, then the US East 737/A320 pilots will continue to make just $125/hr, just slightly more than half what the 737 pilots earn at WN or DL.

The US District court isn't going to listen to what might happen in the future at AA or US in ruling on the merger. The judge will only be concerned with the here and now, and right now, both US and AA are showing profits. No failing company doctrine will be available to overlook the merger's anticompetitive results.

 

[overhauler]

1. Denial & Isolation

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

I'm already at stage 5, was from the moment I heard this POS merger was DOA, thanks to the DOJ.

Let's move on to getting AA out of bankruptcy, and let Parker the perpetual bridesmaid deal with his loss and grief. Nothing against the guy, he seems likeable albeit a bit goofy.

 

[N288AA]

According to Crandall on an interview this morning on Bloomberg and Fox News yesterday as expected he disagreed with the DOJ. He also said and I quote "without this merger AA will fail and sometime in the future because of not being able to compete." He also stated that organic growth will be minimal at least.

 

[Jacobin777]

1. Denial & Isolation

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

I'm already at stage 5, was from the moment I heard this POS merger was DOA, thanks to the DOJ.

Let's move on to getting AA out of bankruptcy, and let Parker the perpetual bridesmaid deal with his loss and grief. Nothing against the guy, he seems likeable albeit a bit goofy.

Judging from some of his comments, it ostensibly seems he's not goofy, but very, very shrewd and calculating.

Notice how he first went to AA's unions with lollipops and forcing Horton and AA's hand in merging. That was one of many things.

I also believe he won't be able to deliver the cost savings he's touted about. When I originally ran the numbers (i.e.costs, revenues, etc.) I didn't believe his numbers one bit-and I still don't.

"Call me a skeptic" I say... <_<

 

[ContUNITEus]

I find it amazing how most lower-class employees have been brain-washed to think that this is a fabulous deal. Don't you realize that only the people in the UPPER-class CEO's category and those in the EXECUTIVES club gets the rewards in all of this?

I am shocked to see that people's hearts have been broken, because they have been enamored with all the baseless and nonsense BS propaganda that has been spread by the US Airways/America West executive team. I can't understand why the masses of the employees keep getting fooled so easily.

"Times have changed." Just a few years ago, the executives of all airlines exploited employees and used the "Times have changed" expressions to squeeze out every penny from them so that they could position their companies for mega-mergers. Well, things have changed... and the economy has made somewhat of a turnaround. There is almost no competition left in the industry.

Thousands of jobs have been sacrificed over the last decade, thanks to these mergers, which promised time and time again, that cuts would not be involved in the mergers. But at every opportunity, when the economy was somewhat slow, they used this excuse to cut jobs saying that things had changed since they effectuated their merger.

No more (HOPEFULLY) will the US tolerate this nonsense.