Originally Posted by
R57 relay
I know what you were talking about and I was there. US Airways was a much bigger operation in 2001 than it is now. PIT was still a major hub, we operated many point to point routes, and Metrojet. DCA was important, but not near 50% of revenue.
You are correct that the slots are valuable, but many of them are operated by regional jets. Keeping the market tight is probably the biggest advantage to them. How profitable and how many the new AA can give up-only Parker and his team know. I think they can actually give enough for the merger to make sense.
That's my point. Parker has a point where it makes sense. If the DOJ wants more then it goes to court. I suspect the DOJ is going to want a lot more than Parker is willing to give, but we'll see.
The 50% figure came from some Airways management people I knew at the time. Surprised me as well but they were in a place to know.