united usairways deal may be falling apart

[FlyDCJets]

My personal favorite part of all of the articles linked here is this one small paragraph.

"US Airways has still not reached agreements with all of its unions following its merger in 2005 with America West Airlines, while United’s pilots and flight attendants were adamantly opposed to a deal with US Airways."

I've always maintained that you can't have Customer Satisfaction without Employee Satisfaction. Now apparently the money guys are figuring this out as well.

The above quote says all anyone need know about Doug Parker's abilities IMO. If you can't get your own house in order in nearly three years then why would investor back you in your attempt to merge with a company 1.5 times larger? Well apparently the answer is they won't.

It will be 18 to 24 months before USAPA and US Airways reach any sort of TA. Allot can and will will happen between that time period that will greatly affect all of us.
"News and film @ 11"

 

[etops1]

mods. thanks for letting this one stay open.

 

[Richard]

Etops,

The behavior of the posters on this thread will determine it's ultimate fate.

We are open to seeing what happens though.....

 

[etops1]

Etops,

The behavior of the posters on this thread will determine it's ultimate fate.

We are open to seeing what happens though.....

did you guys read that? you guys better not f this up with childishness and union bs and who is better than who or who has more money than who. both companies have great employees. no one is better than the other.

 

[Art at ISP]

I don’t like to settle for less than the best , and in the business world , doing so is akin to asking for financial disaster …(Especially in these trying times )

OUR us airways management team runs the combined airline , or those of you at UNITED can take your stock ,soon to be worthless , and use it as TP..


The successful track record of Doug parker and crew speaks for itself … the other posters on here will offer up a different opinion , but you need to remember that labor discord almost always colors most individuals views …


I want Doug parker because I want to keep my job , you should want Doug parker because you want to preserve your investment …

Freedom,

With all due respect, I would like some of the kool aid you are smoking.

The current management of US Airways is one of the worst and most incompetent group of managers I have ever seen in ANY industry. The merger between US and AWA has been BOTCHED big time. The penny wise pound foolish attitude has backfired, and has created a monster.

Three years into the merger, you have the worst IT in the industry...a web site which is slow and spotty, and a reservation system which still doesn't work 15 months after the switchover--because they were too cheap to invest in a system capable of handling the new operation.

Three years into the merger you have total labor unrest--a splintered pilot group capable of shutting the whole thing down, and divisive problems in all the other workgroups. Integration has STILL not happened, and the practice of getting the longer tenured people to leave is proving disastrous.

Customer service is at an all time low....customer relations is nothing more than complaint resolution. US doesn't even respond to many complaints, and when they do they don't address the issues. They throw vouchers at customers, rather than investigating and fixing the problem which caused the customer to complain. Oh--and the vouchers are almost impossible to use, and are worthless to many people who have NO intention of ever flying US again. And US is always in the top 2 of complaints to DOT.....

And you call Doug a Success???????????? All he has done is lined his pockets, and manipulated the numbers to show some profits.....AT THE EXPENSE OF LOYAL EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS.

IF there is a merger between UA and US, and Doug is in charge, it will be doomed to failure...what the company needs is leadership from outside the two companies at this point.....I understand Gordon Bethune is available.

You need to realize the truth.

 

[767jetz]

767jetz,

I'm not sure how the proposed United-US Airways merger may or may not proceed, but if the deal has been put on "permanent hold" then why did Reuters just report "sources told Reuters the talks have not ended?"

Because they COULD be opened again at some future point. "ENDED" and "PERMANET HOLD" are two different things. If future circumstances change, oil goes to $150 per barrel, another airline goes CH11, etc. things could change and if the talks are on hold they COULD be resumed. But for the foreseeable future it is going nowhere.

Reuters reported: "The sources told Reuters the talks have not ended, but that United, which is owned by UAL Corp, is continuing its alliance talks with Continental Airlines Inc."

Perhaps progress has been made with the Continental talks. Since it is well known that UA prefers a deal with CO than a merger with US do to the labor problems associated with a merger, this could very well explain why talks have not completely ended. But Reuters is also reporting:

"internal teams of senior executives at both companies and external bankers and lawyers involved in the project, had put it on "permanent hold."

I am trying to point out that the information you posted paints an incomplete picture of what's really going on.

Furthermore, why as a UA pilot do you spend so much time on the US board and continually bash US and its employees? What useful purpose does that serve?

As for the first part of your question, I think it's self explanatory why I would be here discussing merger related issues and refuting information that I believe to be false or inaccurate.

As for bashing US and it's employees, I've done no such thing, and I will not go further than that and drag this thread into a useless discussion, since I believe the comment itself is inflammatory and serves no purpose. I only post facts, refer to news articles, and offer opinions by stating "IMO" where appropriate. There is no need to shoot the messenger.

When I say that UA employees and the UA pilots in particular do not want to merge with US or are pleased with the news that talks are on permanent hold, that is not an insult directed at anyone. I am accurately relaying the general consensus and OPINION of my coworkers, and how it pertains to this merger since IMO, labor and particularly the pilot's seat on UA's Board of Directors has and continues to be an influence on what is happening in the executive suite.

 

[BottomFeeder]

I only post facts, refer to news articles, and offer opinions by stating "IMO" where appropriate. There is no need to shoot the messenger.

I am accurately relaying the general consensus and OPINION of my coworkers, and how it pertains to this merger since IMO, labor and particularly the pilot's seat on UA's Board of Directors has and continues to be an influence on what is happening in the executive suite.

Mr. United Spin Master,

The problem is the blanket statement that you have the OPINION of the coworkers. Lets see your facts as to the poll you conducted. Give us the numbers of how many people were polled.

You claim to be in the know and yet you have no proof. Just like when you said USAPA did not have the numbers to get an election or numbers to be voted in. How about the vocal minority?

 

[WCT]

Freedom,

With all due respect, I would like some of the kool aid you are smoking.

The current management of US Airways is one of the worst and most incompetent group of managers I have ever seen in ANY industry. The merger between US and AWA has been BOTCHED big time. The penny wise pound foolish attitude has backfired, and has created a monster.

Three years into the merger, you have the worst IT in the industry...a web site which is slow and spotty, and a reservation system which still doesn't work 15 months after the switchover--because they were too cheap to invest in a system capable of handling the new operation.

Three years into the merger you have total labor unrest--a splintered pilot group capable of shutting the whole thing down, and divisive problems in all the other workgroups. Integration has STILL not happened, and the practice of getting the longer tenured people to leave is proving disastrous.

Customer service is at an all time low....customer relations is nothing more than complaint resolution. US doesn't even respond to many complaints, and when they do they don't address the issues. They throw vouchers at customers, rather than investigating and fixing the problem which caused the customer to complain. Oh--and the vouchers are almost impossible to use, and are worthless to many people who have NO intention of ever flying US again. And US is always in the top 2 of complaints to DOT.....

And you call Doug a Success???????????? All he has done is lined his pockets, and manipulated the numbers to show some profits.....AT THE EXPENSE OF LOYAL EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS.

IF there is a merger between UA and US, and Doug is in charge, it will be doomed to failure...what the company needs is leadership from outside the two companies at this point.....I understand Gordon Bethune is available.

You need to realize the truth.

Hala!! Agree totally! What a sad state of affairs..

 

[Travelpro72]

767jets said....usa320pilot said...blah, blah, blah. My stick is bigger than your stick. My company is better than your company, YAWN! ! ! ! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ NOTHING of substance here folks....NOTHING.


MOD NOTE: FINAL reminder about personal attacks/insults/comments--they are not going to be tolerated. The comment above is a perfect illustration of how to get suspended from these boards.

 

[flybynite]

I, for one, couldn't be happier.

No offense to the good folks at United but the whole thing was looking like a train wreak.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Morningstar rates airline's survival chances.....

Bringing Up the Rear
Not surprisingly, bankrupt airline Frontier scores poorly on our scale, which explains in large part why the firm's credit card processor forced the airline into Chapter 11, despite the more than $100 million in cash on hand. Interestingly, however, several airlines score even worse than Frontier, including Mesa Air, US Airways, and ExpressJet

Article

Jim

 

[flydude]

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/conte...ign_id=rss_null

 

[pepaa]

Get ready for BK3, boys. Too bad all the people who know how to handle that situation have been let go (but good for them!) - can't wait to see how the "employee friendly brain trust" handles the filing!

 

[PA18]

In a May 21 USAPA update the union said, “While your Officers and Reps realized it would not be long until the Company tested our resolve, we were a little surprised how early and trivial the first test was. Late on Friday, President Bradford received a communiqué from VP Labor Relations Hemenway requesting a meeting in Tempe for Monday with the USAPA Officers, along with a request for an open-ended Confidentiality Agreement. President Bradford was advised that CEO Parker would not be in attendance at this proposed meeting. Following a discussion with the BPR, USAPA Vice President Cleary made two requests of the Company, first, an agenda for the meeting, and second, that CEO Parker contact President Bradford directly to discuss this and future meeting requests.â€

The union continued, “More specifically on these two issues, Vice President Cleary informed the Company that, as a general matter, whenever senior management wanted to meet with the USAPA Officers that we would be happy to do so. He further clarified that these communications needed to take place between appropriate counterparts in the union and the Company – specifically between President Bradford and CEO Parker. The request for an agenda is a simple matter of good business practice that we believe our pilots demand. Although both of USAPA’s prerequisites were initially refused, CEO Parker finally called President Bradford, and between the two of them it was determined that the meeting was not required after all. The BPR and Officers took these steps to set important boundaries and protocol which will allow the pilots’ business to be conducted efficiently, and for the parties to move forward with the important issues that will face us in the days that will come.â€

And, why is USAPA not telling the rank-and-file the purpose of the meeting? Thus, could USAPA be a part of the solution or an impediment to a solution to US Airways’ financial challenges?

USAPA did tell the rank-and-file the purpose of the proposed "meeting". In the first sentence of the update.

Management was sending out feelers to see if the officers of the new pilots' union were the same sort of weenies -- and management wannabes -- as the officers of the deposed pilots' union.

It would appear that management got their answer (which was not the one they were hoping for).

 

[PA18]

According to an article on CNBC, if this planned merger between UAL and LCC does indeed take place, it will be consumated under a new Presidential Administration.

And let us not forget that the next president will be from either Illinois or Arizona.