Originally Posted by
cactus320
The events that led to the LAS closure happened in 2008 with the run up in oil. Don't forget it was also the final nail in the coffin for PIT, LGA, and BOS. We focused on our four main hubs and stopped all hub flying.
Nicolau used the fleet in 2007 as his basis. He couldn't look into the future and he actually never assumed US Airways was going to liquidate, which it almost certainly was regardless of what you think.
AWA was growing at 10% up until the merger. If US Airways had liquidated, which was the expectation, who knows what Parker would have done with AWA. Maybe Wall Street would have given him $ to go after the defunct airline's assets, maybe he would make a play on Air Tran or Spirit. No one knows, but it is highly unlikely Parker would have just sat back and let the events of the day destroy AWA without trying to take action.
Let's just assume US Airways did pull a rabbit out of the hat and survived. The BK plan was for the new standalone airline to be a domestic only airline with strong regional feed. At the time of the merger US Airways was still actively furloughing hundreds of pilots. Even if the airline survived with 200 or so mainline aircraft, most furloughed US Airways pilots would never have seen recall, let alone the left seat as the attrition didn't kick in for too long and wouldn't have been enough to offset the smaller 200 frame airline.
The merger gave US Airways pilots a new career expectation. The combined airline helped both sides, but it allowed Airways to survive. Since that time, the East pilots were able to use their muscle to decertify ALPA and take every bit of growth for themselves. There were no 330-200's on order at the time of the merger or mainline E190's. The TA called for equal sharing, but the East pilots would have none of that. When the East started getting E190's and the West MEC asked for a share of their seats, the East MEC said no and they could arbitrate. The West ended up with an IOU.
In the end it really doesn't matter who bought who because it was a merger. But it was a merger that allowed US Airways not to liquidate and for AWA to have a chance to add heft to its route network. It only went wrong when the East pilots decided that they deserved everything and took their ball and went home with their new so called union.
Really a sad chapter and no amount of justification can explain the righteousness of USAPA's existence.
My God man, I thought drug testing was industry wide.
I actually agree with a few of your points. The conventional wisdom was that US was going out of business. Just as it was for US and TWA for years. But, we didn't. Bruce Lakefield masterminded another strategy that Parker latched on to.
Let's review. And if you don't want to take my word for it, google the AWA 2004 10-K. AWA was an airline in the margins. Not a fully low cost point to point airline, not a hub airline able to generate higher yields. US Airways was airline hobbled together of a bunch of local service airlines, trying to make it in the big times. Neither airline had what what required to stay alive. PERIOD. AWA had no money to buy it's way into the future. US had lowered it's costs, but still needed help. The merger saved us BOTH. Period.
AWA lost money most of the time from 2001 on. They made a small profit in 2003, but it was like 30 million when the government gave them 80+million in assistance. It's all in the 10-Ks, go look. They weren't kicking ass and taking names as so many of you like to claim. When they did the merger they were losing money, had their asses kicked in the trancon market and needed money. They got that, with no money down,with the US merger.
There has been NO GROWTH! What is so hard to figure out about that? US had over 270 hulls on May 19, 2005. Today it is around 220, with 20 being E190s. Why is that so hard to understand?
You can claim what you want, but the AWA MEC wanted separate ratification of a JCBA before a SLI could be used. That is a fact, although you probably can't get a west guy to admit to it. The west thought it would be screwed in a SLI, and that the east would use it's majority to accept any old contract to make it so. That is a fact. It backfired. You should be asking your former leaders for answers.
Geeze, are you guys really that stupid?