Originally Posted by
IAHB756
Continental already came out with a statement today refuting this article. Seems the attorney for the plaintiff in a suit against Continental got hold of one of many pre merger announcement network scenarios meant to be for internal use only and leaked it to the Plain Dealer. The Plain Dealer chose to run it as a front page story seemingly trying to capitalize on Cleveland's large constituency of doom and gloomers. I think, if anything, this article will force Jeff to maintain the current level of service in CLE for several more years before finally putting to bed this hub. It is unfortunate as CLE has some of the nicest employees in the CAL system.
He is referring to:
September 1, 2010
EMPLOYEE BULLETIN NO. 18
CO issued the following news release today.
CONTINENTAL CEO REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO CLEVELAND; DENOUNCES DISTORTION OF FACTS
CLEVELAND – Sept. 1, 2010 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Smisek today reaffirmed Continental’s commitment to Cleveland and denounced legal maneuvers by a plaintiffs’ lawyer aimed at distorting the facts.
“Continental is firmly committed to Cleveland and will remain so after its merger with United,” said Smisek, who will head the new United Airlines after the combination with Continental. He referred to reports insinuating that Continental would drastically reduce its service to Cleveland as a result of the merger.
The reports were based on one of many simulations analyzed before the merger was announced, and modeled the most severe recession or disaster scenario. The simulation was promoted by the plaintiffs’ attorney in the trial of a lawsuit filed in California challenging the merger.
“Other simulations showed Cleveland maintaining its size and others showed it growing,” Smisek said. “This was never a plan for Cleveland or any of our hubs.”
“We are meeting with Mayor Jackson and business leaders on an on-going basis to ensure Cleveland maintains excellent air service after the merger. We consider Cleveland an important hub and one of our hometowns and resent this attempt to cause concern among our customers and employees,” Smisek said.
He reiterated that he expects the merger will have minimal impact on front-line employees, “including our co-workers in Cleveland.”