Originally Posted by FACSofLife

Here's some credibility from Jeff himself in an Aviation Week article that named him man of the year...

"Smisek is matter of fact about those days in April. “If US Airways had succeeded, our only merger partner would have disappeared. There was no other option,” says the man who now sits at the head of the combined United Continental. This argument was pivotal to his congressional testimony. While under attack for perceived anti-competitive tactics, Smisek held that the opposite was true: that his airline had no real growth opportunity and that without this merger Continental would eventually disappear."

Don't forget also, the UAL MEC Chairman has a seat on the UAL BOD. While she(Wendy) cannot reveal the confidential information behind the deal, anyone who can read a basic annual report can see the numbers in black and white.

Here's some highlights from the CAL 2009 annual report just prior to merger announcement in May 2010.

"The severe global economic recession significantly diminished the demand for air travel beginning in the fourth
quarter of 2008 and disrupted the global capital markets, resulting in a difficult financial environment for U.S. network
carriers. Although we have seen some indications that the airline industry may be experiencing the early stages of a
recovery, we cannot predict how quickly or fully demand for air travel will recover, and continued weakness in such
demand would hinder our ability to achieve and sustain profitability. Moreover, although access to the capital markets
has improved over the past several months, as evidenced by our recent financing transactions, we cannot give any
assurances that we will be able to obtain additional financing or otherwise access the capital markets in the future on
acceptable terms (or at all). We must achieve and sustain profitability and/or access the capital markets to meet our
significant long-term debt and capital lease obligations and future commitments for capital expenditures, including the
acquisition of aircraft and related spare engines.
Economic Conditions. The severe economic recession in the U.S. and global economies has had a significant
negative impact on the demand for air carrier services beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. Passenger revenue in
2009 for U.S. airlines, as reported by the Air Transport Association of America, declined 18% compared to 2008. The
decline in demand for air travel in 2008 and 2009 disproportionately reduced the volume of high-yield traffic, as many
business travelers either curtailed their travel or purchased lower yield economy tickets. Although recent improvements
in corporate bookings and revenue trends suggest that the airline industry may be experiencing the early stages of a
recovery, we cannot predict how quickly or fully demand for air travel will recover. If global economic conditions fail to
improve or worsen, resulting in continuing demand weakness and reduced revenues, we may be unable to offset the
reduced revenues fully through further cost and capacity reductions or other measures.
In addition to its effect on demand for our services, the global economic recession severely disrupted the
global capital markets, resulting in a diminished availability of financing and higher cost for financing that was
obtainable. Although access to the capital markets has improved over the past several months, as evidenced by our
recent financing transactions, if economic conditions again worsen or these markets experience further disruptions,
we may be unable to obtain financing on acceptable terms (or at all) to refinance certain maturing debt we would
normally expect to refinance and to satisfy future capital commitments."