Originally Posted by
APC225
What a coincidence. Smisek was never hired to run an airline either, just to combine two companies. After the last CAL CEO walked away from the merger at the last minute they replaced him with someone who would do it. I suspect he'll be replaced after things settle down into a steady state, if that's a state that even exists.
UAL had given up on a CAL deal and was in deep merger discussions with US Airways in early 2010. Tilton and Parker were both eager to do that deal. It would have happened if Smisek, upon learning how far along the discussions were, hadn't personally called Tilton and intervened. By that time, CAL management and the Board knew that the CAL business plan was dead given the dramatic changes in the industry.