Originally Posted by
Rosie
A consolidation or reduction in any of the carriers domestic capacity creates interesting opprotunities for carriers like SWA. If consolidation occurs (and I think it will) some LLC will take advantage of it.
By the way I agree with freezing...I wouldn't want to be on the bottom of the list.
I'm sure that's what many people at America West were thinking for years and look how it turned out for them. No one is sure that any consolidation will happen. These morons on Wall Street won't shut about it because they are trying to make money. Remember how close CAL and UAL were to merging last year. It's all we heard about and it NEVER happened. The stock market is weak and it needs a boost. No one is sure if consolidation will happen, and no one is sure if furloughs will result. Everyone keeps talking about furloughs due to route overlap, but Delta and Northwest really don't have much domestic overlap which is probably why they are Skyteam partners. Delta and Northwest are hiring close to 1000 pilots this year alone, and the need for pilots will continue regardless of mergers. Delta and Northwest have planes that will be delivered, and are expanding internationally which requires more pilots than domestic flying. And if the merger happens, who knows how many NWA pilots will stick around. Perhaps many will early out because they still have a sour taste in their mouths from the NWA/Republic merger. Frozen pensions give guys a lot of incentive to leave at 60. Bottom line, no one knows what will happen so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
