trvlr64 said:
Twice you are so right! Employees on this board and customers on Flyertalk are going off the deep end with all this "future" squabbling. No one knows what is going to happen until it's truely announced. I'm laughing at all the speculation and worry.Â
Relax people. Why worry about an unknown future?
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And if I could just add my two cents, if this all comes to fruition, I don't think we will see much reduction in flying because there are very few routes that overlap. What I think we will see is a change in the way we fly, i.e., more point-to-point flying.
As for staffing, AWA has been through the wringer and, thankfully, has gotten out of it. UAIR is still there, still struggling with bad management, through no fault of the employees. In fact, the only reason UAIR is still around is through the dedication of its employees (which, or course, bugs the crap out of employees of AA, UA and DAL who seem to think they have some devine right to UAIR's northeast routes, gates, and slots). I want to point out that pre-9/11, US Airways won award after award for its customer service, first-class service, and overall product. Our aircraft were always clean and well-maintained and the employees went out of their way to provide an awesome product.
We have a dedicated customer base who are every bit as frustrated with our our management as we are.
But I submit that both the current AWA and UAIR have a lot to learn from each other. We can make this work. We can become the Brady Bunch of airline mergers, and we can grow stronger from it. We can forge new, meaningful relationships with the current work forces of the other airline. We are not the self-centered employees of UAL or AA. Remember UAL employees wanted to file suit during merger discussions, even though union by-laws required seniority integration, to staple UAIR employees to the bottom. I understand there was even a movement by some UAL flight attendants to decertify AFA and form their own union so they won't have to integrte seniority. And what AA did to the TWA people is nothing short of disgusting... these were people with sometimes 35 years of experience and put up with management and ownership that raped and pilliaged the airline. It was not TWA's employees' fault what happened to that once great and bohemoth airline... it was the greed of a few people with no conscience and no sense of right or wrong, and not caring what they were doing to tens of thousands of hard-working dedicated employees who had invested their lives in the airline.
Getting back to us. Both airlines have a lot to offer. UAIR has a stong east-coast presence, many European destinations, and has enjoyed amazing growth in the past couple of years in the Carribean and South American markets. It also has coveted DCA and LGA slots and STAR alliance membership. AWA has a strong west-coast presence, DCA long-haul slots, and a strong Mexico presence.
Together, a combined UAIR/AWA might build on each other's strengths to open European markets from PHX and LAS, might open Hawaiian markets to both coasts (including inter-island small jet service), Asian markets into PHX, and even Australian service. We can build further South American growth from the East Coast. All of this, of course, will take time. But more importantly, it will take dedication from the collective employees of both airlines with an eye at creating the best airline in the world. This is an opportunity to create a "right-sized" airline which is in a position to grow into new markets when the time is right.
I know we can do it. We are better than those AA people and those UAL people who would sell their own mothers down the river to protect their precious seniority. (Ask yourself why they are coming onto your board to rile you up... just like they come onto US Airway' board to rile us up!) I don't want to see any airline employees lose their jobs because of industry consolidation, but consolidation is inevitable and we can marry and get our house in order. The current proposal to bring together an east coast airline, and all its strengths, together with a west coast airline, and all its strengths, provides the best, and possibly only opportunity for the front-line employees to protect most front-line jobs, build a strong airline and a great product. The AA and UAL people would argue and have you believe that UAIR has no strength... but that is simply not true. If we didn't, we would no longer be here. Remember there were predictions that we would be gone by the end of 2001... then mid-2002, then the end of 2002, then the end of 2003, then June of 2004 and the end of 2004. Now they are saying by September. Guess what, we're still here... hopping along in some instances, but still here.
Much has been said about US Air's purchase of PSA and its losses from the west coast market. But I submit that the concept, back then and now, was a good one. What happened was a poor execution of the merger, in terms of fleet types, crew pay, and running from Southwest when they began service into California. Running from your competition never makes you stronger. That's not what is happening here. Costs of doing business have been lowered, by both airlines and that puts us in a position to go head-to-head with Southwest and others. And with the strengths of an enhanced yet larger network, the sky's the limit. Also, from the looks of things, the inept UAIR management will be gone, and people sincerely interested in managing and growing an airline will be at the helm.
Let's make this work. Let's show the world we can create a world-class, cost-effective INTERNATIONAL airline that people will flock to. Let's show the UAL and AA people who are trying now to divide us that they are doing it in vein. We are better than they are. And we will prove it!
