While I do agree that eventually AA will attempt a hostile takeover of JB, it's not happening anytime soon. First, they need to finish the US Air deal and complete the merger and seniority list integration, which could take years. Then they need to recoup the reorganization money lost over this period to finance a hostile bid, which again will take years.

In the mean time, it is likely that B6 continues to improve its stock price, I think a year ago it was in the $3.00 range, now it is in the $6.00 range. While not great, it has still almost doubled. Hostile bids are not cheap and I would expect Delta or United to try a bidding war to prevent the AA/B6 domination of the New York market.

And of course B6 will probably be B6/ALPA by then, I wouldn't be surprised to see ALPA after this next drive based on current Delta/United/AMR contracts and the healthcare debacle. That's mt .02cents, which is worth about half of that.