Of course it will. Especially if you want to sell your shares back to Alaska. The interesting comment is when Mr. Ayer said they would consider a merger if it was in the interest of the shareholders.

At this point, Alaska stock is way up there. So, you as an individual shareholder would probably NOT get a premium for your shares. That said, you would probably gain in a stock swap merger deal. Let's imagine the partner is Delta. You might realize a 3 or 4 for one share swap. In the long run, if the merged carrier does well, you would profit enormously.

I believe that the boys at Angle Lake very well could sell Alaska out of the Air Group. They would personally and corporately make a lot of money. They could use the resulting funds to acquire 100 seat E-190s for Horizon.

The benefits?

1. Historically when a trunk carrier buys a West Coast airline, they "promise" to continue serving the West Coast. But history tells us a different story. American did it with Air Cal and Reno Air. USAir did it with PSA. Delta did it with Western. They operated for a short time, but eventually diverted the assets into their East/West operation. That's how Alaska managed to enter the West Coast market and eventually dominate it.

2. Given that history, the Angle Lakers KNOW their history. Sell Alaska to the highest bidder (DAL or SWA) then get some E-190/195s and rebuild the system using Horizon. After all, the Horizon contract was just settled without the Horizon pilots taking big pay cuts.

3. Horizon? The current pay structure, especially the jet pay rates, don't make sense for a CRJ-70. However, that pay rate is VERY competitive if the QX guys were flying a 100 or 110 seat jet.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I see something coming down the pike. I'd prefer to end my career as an SWA pilot, but DAL narrowbodies are fine with me too.