I was a 737 captain at USAir in 2000 and the UAL meager was supposed to be a slam dunk thanks to Stephen Wolf, who was specifically hired to complete it. The DCA operation was going to sold to the owner of the BET network along with several other route divestures. Having 12 years seniority at the time, things were looking pretty good for a DOH combined list.

Right before 9-11 DOJ said “no” and that was that. Never one to waste a good crisis USAir proceeded to park 110 aircraft permanently and lay-off 1,800 pilots following 9-11. Management stated they had no “Plan B” without the UAL merger. Two bankruptcies later and back to reserve first officer I had enough and “retired” as they were literally months from Chapter 7 until America West bought them with their airline stimulus money at the time.

All great reasons can be found for mergers from the participants and plenty of people can find a threat in it and try to put the brakes on it. It’s not over til it’s over.