Originally Posted by
FLYBOYMATTHEW
The same thing could be said about Spirit as a standalone airline, however, they are starting to step on each other's toes a bit. The growth of each is starting to cause more overlap and competition on a few routes. Frontier gives Spirit an instant presence in the West and more A/C orders. Franke says he sees more consolidation among LCCs in the U.S., and he likely has the power to make it happen. Among remaining LCCs (Frontier, Spirit, JetBlue, and Allegiant), this union seems to be a no-brainer. If it happens, it'll be a bad deal for contract prospects on both sides. The SLI SEEMS like it would be fairly straightforward...both ALPA, same A/C, similar career expectations...but management would probably be able to stall long enough to negotiate a deal at a more favorable time for them, and get a couple more years of discounted labor in the meantime.
I thought I read somewhere that any time an airline merger occurs two ALPA carriers, it generates an automatic renegotiation of sorts...I'll have to try and find that language but if anyone else knows...