acl65pilot

My wife went as one for Halloween. She likes it too. I still think it is the best uniform out there.

chuck h

Another merger announcement could be good, summer '10 hu? If big D were serious they may not be able to get another merger approved if they have pilots on the street. Maybe we can hold off on the furloughs till after summer '10. Anything that helps me keep my job closer to when the old guys have to leave is fine by me. I'm not really worried about my job after Dec. 2012, its just the next 3.5+ years that worry me.

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In heaven all the interesting people are missing. Friedrich Nietzsche

skypest

DAL4EVER - That won't happen until UAL announces to the government that it will file and be tango uniform. Lufthansa will make a pitch that if cabotage is relaxed they will buy up "the toxic assets"

It must be really nice to know the future.

Perhaps I am out of touch with reality. Please explain exactly why you see United having to file for BK. Have United's results for the last several quarters been that far out of line with the other legacy carrier's? Maybe it is the "toxic assets" that will bring them down. Can you describe those assest in detail?

Prepared for enlightenment.

DAL4EVER

Continue to hold then. I'm not a prognosticator just stating an opinion. UAL has and is burning through more cash than any other legacy carrier right now. They have horrendous employee relations and seem to be thoroughly ticking the passengers off. From a cash standpoint, UAL and LCC will be the first to declare if things don't change. I hope they don't. I've been through one BK and its horrible for all parties involved. Someone brought up when they thought cabotage would occur and I stated my opinion. An LCC failure while tragic may not have the catastrophic consequences from a legislator standpoint that a UAL one would. And again, UAL is from Obama's hometown. I seriously doubt after championing the losses of good paying jobs, the new administration would sit idly by and do nothing. A bailout may not happen. The next logical step would be a buyout by LH.

Oh and your toxic assets have an initial - GT and his crew.

skypest

Nice answer. I agree that GT could be considered toxic.

As for burning through the cash... Not so sure that United is that far off when it comes to the other trunk airlines. Also, I do see my fair share of passengers at 85 hours a month and can tell you that with very few exceptions most seem very content.

As for Obama stepping up to help if needed - I find that highly improbable.

I wouldn't be surprised to see something aligned with LH. It seems this has long been a goal of United's board + GT.

My apologies if I seemed snide or blunt. I just get sick of people bashing United. It seems to be a theme on these board.

Frats

DAL4EVER

No sweat. I have numerous friends at UAL and the majority of them are going into their second furlough. My frustration, shared more passionately by UAL employees, is the complete and utter failure of the Board at UAL to demand that Tilton and crew run the company. It seems that Tilton felt that gutting employee contracts during BK was the cure-all. Not tackling the mountain of debt they had incurred. They didn't use BK to constructively try and figure out what routes worked and what didn't. (At DAL, we are blessed with Hauenstein and Cortelyou who completely revamped our network.) Finally, I believe Tilton's sole hope was to lean the company out for hopes of a merger and he could cash out. When that never materialized you see the ship drifting with no rudder. UAL arguably had the best network and brand recognition of any U.S. carrier yet management completely urinated it away. I wish you all luck there.

Carl Spackler

I think the widget will look better on their tail than that picture of Moammar Khadaffi.

Carl

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I'm an airline pilot - so I got that goin for me....which is nice.

acl65pilot

Now that is a good one. I had a good laugh at that one! Keep em coming

Nosmo King

I think you have been around long enough to know that its Frank Lorenzo's mother on the tail, not Khadaffi.

chuck h

I thought it was Bob Marley.

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In heaven all the interesting people are missing. Friedrich Nietzsche