Originally Posted by
Carl Spackler
I think that is a big part of the problem here. Delta pilot's recent experience with mergers were with parts of airline's that were about to be liquidated. If the Western and Pan Am pilots felt that a specially formulated ratio was unfair, who cares. They had no leverage and it would have been easy for Delta to just say "take it or leave it." The mergers with NWA have all been arbitrated even though Republic Airlines in 1986 was an airline in dire financial straits. At the time of the merger's announcement, Republic stock price had dropped to $4 per share. The financial distress notwithstanding, NWA felt that Republic brought a terrific hub in Detroit and Memphis along with a large fleet of 100 to 125 seat aircraft which NWA did not have. Thus the merger was not done on the pretext of buying a competitor that was on death's door.
I think a lot of NWA folks think that Delta still thinks the merger should be done with the same ratio strategy used for airlines that were about to be liquidated. That perception is insulting, and it shows by the reaction of the NWA MEC after negotiating with DAL.
Carl
Yea but I've never heard anyone complain about either of those acquisitions. Even the PAN AM guys I flew with were content. If they weren't upset by the negotiations then that smells like success to me. Especially when juxtaposed against the arbitrated list and fences that caused so much rancor at NWA. Most conversations I had over the years with my NWA friends would degenerate into a green book, red book, blue book discussion. It's a non-issue over here because we never got lazy and let a bureaucrat handle our issues for us. I'd prefer we not start now.