US Airways chief and Bethune have a meeting of the minds

[USA320Pilot]

Moving and shaking an industry - US Airways chief and Bethune have a meeting of the minds

Bethune, who is chairman of Aloha Airgroup, has said he thinks the airline industry will consolidate. The outspoken executive said having a large number of major carriers leads to instability for employment and pension matters.

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Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[gaucho99]

Moving and shaking an industry - US Airways chief and Bethune have a meeting of the minds

Bethune, who is chairman of Aloha Airgroup, has said he thinks the airline industry will consolidate. The outspoken executive said having a large number of major carriers leads to instability for employment and pension matters.

See Story

Regards,

USA320Pilot

Gordon is getting paid $25,000 per day as a consultant. Sounds to me like the longer he can drag this out, the more money he makes. He's in no hurry for a decision one way or the other.

 

[LD3]

Kind of interesting that two days after the NY meeting DP upped the offer, maybe Bethune wispered somthing in DP's ear....

 

[ClueByFour]

Moving and shaking an industry - US Airways chief and Bethune have a meeting of the minds

Bethune, who is chairman of Aloha Airgroup, has said he thinks the airline industry will consolidate. The outspoken executive said having a large number of major carriers leads to instability for employment and pension matters.

See Story

Regards,

USA320Pilot

First, Bethune said the following after that meeting:

"I can still be a proponent of marriage without agreeing that these two people have to get married,"

Lest anyone try to spin the headline.

Further, Parker is a boldface, err, spinner himself:

"We think our team has done a fantastic job of merging America West and US Airways," Parker said. "We are 15 or 16 months into it and have consolidated all the airports, all the systems, and our people are working exceptionally well together."

What a lying sack of it. Sure, the airports might have gates next to each other, but there two lines at the freaking ticket counter depending upon where you are heading/connecting. None of the "systems" are consolidated. And none of the labor groups are working together because none have been merged.

I should drop my gig and become an airline reporter or analyst type--Parker never would've gotten such a boldface lie of a propaganda statement past someone in the know....

 

[gaucho99]

First, Bethune said the following after that meeting:
Lest anyone try to spin the headline.

Further, Parker is a boldface, err, spinner himself:
What a lying sack of it. Sure, the airports might have gates next to each other, but there two lines at the freaking ticket counter depending upon where you are heading/connecting. None of the "systems" are consolidated. And none of the labor groups are working together because none have been merged.

I should drop my gig and become an airline reporter or analyst type--Parker never would've gotten such a boldface lie of a propaganda statement past someone in the know....

The merger is actually running ahead of schedule. Initial plan was for everything to be completed in 3 years. Now, it'll be done in two.

 

[nycbusdriver]

"We think our team has done a fantastic job of merging America West and US Airways," Parker said. "We are 15 or 16 months into it and have consolidated all the airports, all the systems, and our people are working exceptionally well together."



Stephen Colbert, of The Colbert Report, would call this "truthiness."

 

[EricLv2Fish]

First, Bethune said the following after that meeting:
Lest anyone try to spin the headline.

Further, Parker is a boldface, err, spinner himself:
What a lying sack of it. Sure, the airports might have gates next to each other, but there two lines at the freaking ticket counter depending upon where you are heading/connecting. None of the "systems" are consolidated. And none of the labor groups are working together because none have been merged.

I should drop my gig and become an airline reporter or analyst type--Parker never would've gotten such a boldface lie of a propaganda statement past someone in the know....

Anyone who knows how difficult it is to merge two different cultures, operations, maintenance programs AND get the FAA on board would say the merger is going just about as good as could be expected. One only has to look back at other Airline mergers to gauge the success of the AWA and US Airways merger. If the certificate is blessed by the FAA this year as planned, this merger would have exceeded almost all analyst expectations. Many employees are working very hard to make it happen and will deserve any accolades and bonuses that come their way.

 

[brokenwrench]

You have got to be kidding! If you look back at other mergers you will see that Parker is running US/HP more like Lorenzo did EA/CO. Keep em separate and shoot for the bottom of the barrel in wages. Not the model for a successful merger, unless you are one of the “money menâ€￾ with a large stock exposure.

Contrast that to the DL/WA merger and you will see that in less than 12 months A/C were flying in and out of ANY city in the system. If the station never had been WA or DL it didn’t matter, the employees were already integrated.

Does this mean Parker and CO. could not do this? Absolutely not, they have the brains and money to complete the HP/US merger NOW. The forensic question is why have they not committed the resources to do so?

 

[ringmaruf]

The merger is actually running ahead of schedule. Initial plan was for everything to be completed in 3 years. Now, it'll be done in two.

I guess that's like how Kirby told everyone and their brother the certificates would be merged in 2nd quarter 2007...then during a recent earnings call, he dropped that to 2nd half 2007.

An analyst actually dared to call him on it. And Kirby, of course, just outright lied and said that he had *never* said 2nd quarter, and that it's always been 2nd half...even though there are scores of quotes in previous press releases and conference calls where he said 2nd quarter.

 

[sfb]

The merger is actually running ahead of schedule. Initial plan was for everything to be completed in 3 years. Now, it'll be done in two.

As of early 2006 (in the company's 10-K filing with the SEC for 2005), the plan was:

US Airways Group expects to integrate the two principal subsidiaries into one operation over the first 24 months following the merger.

One quarter earlier, they had projected "approximately 24 to 36 months following the merger."