Originally Posted by
blakman7
As much as I HATE reading posts from WHACKMASTER, this post was spot on! AirTran was doing alright and didn't need to be bought to survive. AT was still growing......something that SWA hadn't done in a long time. So before any of the SWA guys make it seem as if they did the AT guys a favor, check your history if you could please. Thanks.
Blakman, I don't think any SWA dudes thought we were doing you a favor. Let's be real, neither pilot group had much say in the matter. I'm not saying AT couldn't have survived, but consolidation has been the name of the game for the last decade...what do you think happens to the smaller fish, even if they're healthy?
Regardless: previous growth is not an indicator of future profit/survive-ability.
For example: My brother was hired at American in 89 and was a Capt in only 4 years...and it's been a hard, slow, sometimes backwards slide since. History is full of companies who's major reason for bankruptcy was expansion. How's your history check goin' now?
So: plans for expansion are by themselves no indicator of success.
The bottom line is, the AT board saw more value in cashing out than continuing operations. Why?
Maybe they saw the price of oil going up and realized their 717's don't compete as well at higher oil prices?
Maybe they saw the AT pilots strike vote and realized their days of labor cost advantages were over?
I don't know the answer, but they voted with their pocketbooks. Blame them.