US Airways Said to Develop AMR Merger Plan to Fix Revenue Gap

[xUT]

What about the aluminized mylar graphics that are used on transit buses and semi trailers? Could the 787 be wrapped in it? Probably heavier than paint, though.

Besides flying at Mach .85 (647 MPH) it might be more of a challenge to maintain vs the 75 MPH for a bus...

 

[AAviator]

Be rather difficult to conform that material to all the bends, curves/shapes of an airliner I'd think-and, prob a bit heavier yeah. I'll bet they come up with something more appealing than reg old gray.

Ethiad has some pearlescent looking paint on their current scheme. Looks pretty good as a base color should they try to keep the metal base look... The old Northwest color is similar

New livery wouldn't surprise me..

 

[787nightmare]

Yeah, nice looking colors up there.
They'll come up with something that looks great.
And I agree, I've always liked the buffed alum fuselages on AAs fleet. It just looks great when done properly!

 

[Buck]

Okay I see the point of the non metal fuselages, however one purpose for going to Carbon Fiber was weight for fuel savings. That was one of the issues for polishing the aluminum.

 

[WorldTraveler]

returning to the topic at hand, of the carriers who have reported so far, LCC's revenue performance is just middle of the pack. The notion that they can "fix" AMR's revenue problem while they are unable to outperform using the system they already have is a bit hard to believe.
We haven't seen AMR's financial results (and probably won't for a while) but AMR's revenue performance has not been as much driven by its lack of premium revenue as it has been by the increase in competitive assaults on AA's network. Getting AA's costs in line will allow it to control its own destiny and fight back against competitors far better than they have done up to this point.
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Further, all of the talk about what US will do has to be weighed against what DL as a potential competitor is doing... the simple fact is that DL is outperforming US in every key measure. Further, DL's market cap is between 7.5 and 8 times that of LCC/US' which means that US' arguments that they can generate wealth are not believed by Wall Street as much as they are by DL.
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The notion that hubs have to be closed in order to generate superior financial results is not supported by the fact that DL still has plenty of hubs and obviously still manages to use even its smaller hubs to generate strong revenues without giving up the local markets to other carriers. Even though CVG and MEM are small hubs -and carry little connecting traffic compared to other hubs - DL still maintains its share of the local market and has limited the ability of competitors - including low fare competitors - to grow. Both AA and US have a pretty long history of giving up local markets as they have pulled down hubs. NO airline can downsize its network and continue to give up revenue share.... facts that won't be lost in competing proposals for AA's future.
Even if DL has no desire to acquire AA or even parts of it, DL can make a credible case for its ability to manage AA's assets and thus drive higher prices for AA's assets against competitive proposals - or hold AA to a higher standard for fixing its own problems.

 

[wings396]

Delta, Delta, Delta....Blah, Blah Blah....King of the industry, pound your chest WT, and move on. We all know that nobody can top DeltaFlot anymore...They are superior in all ways, and the rest of us can only hope to be half as good as they are.

 

[diamondcutter]

Delta, Delta, Delta....Blah, Blah Blah....King of the industry, pound your chest WT, and move on. We all know that nobody can top DeltaFlot anymore...They are superior in all ways, and the rest of us can only hope to be half as good as they are.

Well said....we all know delta is bigger than US even AA. WT. puts his delta rants and long winded posts at every turn. Who cares about the many delta hubs ect. Ect. It is sooooo easy for him to speculate behind a screen name. I wish all the AA employees the very best during these troubling times!!!

 

[wings396]

I hope he is in upper management at DL....Either way they have one hell of a cheerleader in their pocket....

 

[WorldTraveler]

In a competitive industry, what the strongest carriers in the industry are doing and seek to do strategically very much matters. All of the talk about what US wants to do MUST be considered within the context of what DL is doing and can do.... when analysts and AMR creditors look at potential options for how to restructure AMR, they cannot neglect what DL is doing.
US has no right to a merger just because it is the smallest network carrier - it has to demonstrate that can develop the strongest proposal for AMR if AA or its assets become available on the market. The fact that DL is outperforming US makes it much harder for US to argue that it is the best long-term decision for AMR - and in order to win a contest with DL, US will have to outbid DL. Given that DL has a market capitalization almost 8 times larger than US, there is little chance that US could win a contest without loading up the acquisition with large amounts of debt that also make it much harder for the new airline to emerge.
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The implications for US in being unable to find a merger partner are very significant which is why they are pushing so hard for one.

 

[diamondcutter]

In a competitive industry, what the strongest carriers in the industry are doing and seek to do strategically very much matters. All of the talk about what US wants to do MUST be considered within the context of what DL is doing and can do.... when analysts and AMR creditors look at potential options for how to restructure AMR, they cannot neglect what DL is doing.
US has no right to a merger just because it is the smallest network carrier - it has to demonstrate that can develop the strongest proposal for AMR if AA or its assets become available on the market. The fact that DL is outperforming US makes it much harder for US to argue that it is the best long-term decision for AMR - and in order to win a contest with DL, US will have to outbid DL. Given that DL has a market capitalization almost 8 times larger than US, there is little chance that US could win a contest without loading up the acquisition with large amounts of debt that also make it much harder for the new airline to emerge.
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The implications for US in being unable to find a merger partner are very significant which is why they are pushing so hard for one.

Ok we get it DELTA rules the world they are the best will always be the best and will start nonstop service to heaven.

 

[Rogallo]

Ok we get it DELTA rules the world they are the best will always be the best and will start nonstop service to heaven.

He/She is not going away!!

 

[Flying low]

US AIR just may not want us.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/11384664/1/us-airways-shares-up-44-ytd-ceo-says-merger-not-needed.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

 

[commavia]

US AIR just may not want us.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/11384664/1/us-airways-shares-up-44-ytd-ceo-says-merger-not-needed.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Oh Dougie wants to merge, and he may well get it, too. I think he is just being smart like any person in any potential buying situation and not tipping his hand too soon so as to raise his price. But, from his perspective, a merger with AA makes a lot of sense, and the combined airline's network would be substantially strengthened in several key areas. AA would instantly get a phenomenal hub in Charlotte that is one of only two effectively capable of serving the Atlantic Southeast, an amazing franchise at Washington Reagan, which is one of the most competitively-restricted and highest-yielding airports in the U.S. with tons of government/corporate traffic, a northeast hub in Philadelphia that while, true, is an absolutely operational and logistical mess, is really no appreciably worse than what United has at EWR or certainly no worse than what Delta will have split over JFK and LGA. PHX is a wild card - depending on where the combined hypothetical airline's costs ended up. Internationally, USAirways would strengthen and compliment AA's existing Europe network, build somewhat on AA's already-huge lead to Latin America and the Caribbean, and do absolutely nothing for Asia (although no merger would help there - AA is going to have to build it organically).

The fact that USAirways has reportedly begun looking to engagement with British Airways (IAG) implies that they want any hypothetical merger - if it is to happen - to be friendly, since there is no way BA would ever go along with a hostile takeover of AA that might harm BA's interests. And frankly, I would honestly not be surprised to see USAirways get the support of AA's own management team, too, Horton's comments last year about going it alone notwithstanding. The combination of AA, USAirways, IAG, Citibank, likely Boeing and Airbus, and possibly TPG all going in together as one unified front would be unstoppable. Delta, even if they thought they might get something out of the process, would have no chance. But, that being said, I don't think Delta really things they will get anything out of this bankruptcy, anyway - their management is far too smart for that. An AA-Delta merger would never pass regulatory muster, and thus Delta would have to break AA apart (and Delta only wants parts of AA, anyway), which virtually none of AMR's largest stakeholders and creditors (including the unions) are likely to go along with.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Ok we get it DELTA rules the world they are the best will always be the best and will start nonstop service to heaven.

Reminds me of the old saying before PI opened the CLT hub - to get to heaven you have to connect in ATL...

Jim

 

[johnny kat]

IMHO, WT probably has the hard won right to thump his/her chest and proclaim Delta the everlasting winner. I mean we can all contribute a million key strokes to what might be if only certain things could happen. But, the truth is Delta has ALREADY made the important things happen. Delta has proven themselves as the winner of the deregulation experiment.

Now, if US and AA are smart they will take a lesson from Delta and UA/CO. I hate eating crow as much as the next person, but you have to admit the DL/NW merger was a success. If anyone has any arguments just look at today's earnings announcement. It is time to stop being foolish and realize what works...if you can't beat em' join em'.

I could only wish US made a 450,000,000 plus quarterly profit. Imagine what that profit sharing check would be. $$$$ one can dream.