Both options cost money so both options are DOA. Given your this or that, what would be the most beneficial for AA? To acquire an over burdened, money losing, heavily indebted operation, with waring pilots and a fleet totally incompatible airbus planes, or redirect current excess, fleet and with all the new boeing's coming on line to building up RDU or BNA or some where else. What city wouldnt LOVE to hear anyone was coming to town and wanting to hire workers and increase there tax base? Now which one has less risk, aggravation, potential problems and liability?
"Money losing"
AFAIK AA isn't exactly swimming in a sea of profit...That's what consolidation is all about. Two companies pool their good resources and eliminate their unprofitable or redundant assets.
"Heavily indebted"
I am pretty sure AA is mortgaged to the hilt
"Warring Pilots"
Labor issues tend to fall by the wayside when it comes down to survival. If UA and CO merged and left AA and US as lone unmerged airlines plus $150/bbl oil came back, pilots from both airlines would probably be told either to live with it or go home.
"Totally incompatable airplanes"
Simple solution to that. Consolidation is used to get rid of redundant routes, why not get rid of old metal along with them. US gets rid of its 737-3s, 737-4s, AA gets rid of its MD-80s. The combined AA/US replaces the old planes with the newer A319/320/321s and 737-8s. The combined fleet ends up being newer, more reliable, and more fuel efficient which reduces maintenance and fuel costs. US already has Airbus guys, AA has boeing guys. Have US crews operate the Airbii and AA crews operate the Boeings. The combined carrier could have these types of aircraft...737, A320 (series), 757, 767, A330, 777.
I don't think DL/NW had any similar airframes, with the exception of the 757, yet they are merged.
"Redirect current excess, fleet...or somewhere else"
Once again, consolidation is the name of the game. Adding a hub costs money, consolidation is meant to save money. RDU would need large amounts of money invested into it to build a hub of CLTs scale from the ground up. From dozens of extra gates, to extra fuel capacity, to extra baggage handling capacity, to extra just about everything, Raleigh would have to undertake an ambitious expansion plan at RDU. The city isn't going to do possibly 100s of millions of dollars worth of work for free. They are either going to get AA to pay for it upfront, or pay for it through increased landing fees. [High landing fees are arguably what caused PIT to go under (PIT undertook an ambtious expansion for US and ended up making US unprofitable at their station hence their demise)]. So for what they spend in RDU to add 400-500 extra flights, they could buy a large number of shares in US, maybe even controlling stake and be well on their way to gaining PHL, CLT, and PHX hubs and focus citys in LAS, DCA, LGA, and BOS. They can own RDU for hundreds of millions, or they could spend a little more and own virtually the entire east coast from BOS to MIA by buying US.
"What city wouldn't love..."
If they ramped up the hub in CLT to compete with ATL, it would require the addition of workers there. Charlotte has a higher unemployment rate than Raleigh right now and could stand a few extra jobs.
Besides RDU wouldn't be profitable anyways according to clueby4. He stated that CLT is 20-30 WN flights away from unprofitability. RDU already has met that 20-30 WN flight criteria.
