Originally Posted by Big E 757 (Post 2905982)

I heard today, just from a fellow crew member, who knows as much or less than the rest of us, that the 737Max never passed the wind tunnel testing. Some how, the aircraft, by virtue of the big ass engines, was not aerodynamic enough to pass the test?? I don’t even know how it works or what the wind tunnel test proves, or is, or if it’s a certification requirement.

I heard on the news that United or American was planning flights on the max to resume the first of the year, but with the increased scrutiny focused on the FAA because of this self certify, good old boys club attitude, it might be more difficult than originally planned.

I don’t know, I don’t work for an airline that flies the Max. Just sharing what I heard. I like Steve Dickson, (New head of the FAA). He’s a no nonsense guy and if you can be in charge of 14,000 pilots and rarely have a bad word said about you, you’re an exceptional leader. And that’s what we have. Hopefully the Max issues get worked out and those aircraft get back in the air, soon.

Originally Posted by rickair7777 (Post 2906276)

DOT has little to do with it, it's DOJ and FTC.

As to the political practicality of an airline merger...

1. Would it result in a merged entity significantly larger than DL or AA (this is a bit nebulous depending on whether you look at revenue or ASMs or even fleet count)?

2. Would it result in a significant monopoly at any big hub or regional market?

If the answer is no, it would likely pass muster with the current administration. #2 could be (and has been) addressed by divesting gates/slots to balance out competition.

Whether it makes business sense is of course a whole 'nother issue. But corporate leaders in general will assume that two smaller companies in the same business can generally achieve cost savings and efficiencies by merging.

I think AS could be acquired by SW, or merge with anyone smaller. I think they could be acquired by UA with west-coast divestitures (not saying that makes sense). Could maybe be acquired by DL, the merged entity would be bigger than AA but not that much bigger.

Originally Posted by Flyby1206 (Post 2906787)

Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment; SW+AS would be significantly larger than any other carrier in terms of domestic US market share. Isn’t that the limit of jurisdiction for the DOJ anyways? Could DL/AA/UA make a complaint this would result in an anti-competitive environment and perhaps they would need to buy a domestic carrier to compete against SW/AS? Interesting to think of...

Originally Posted by Baradium (Post 2906643)

As much as I would like to see DL buy Alaska, I honestly think the expansion DL has made in Seattle would make approval very difficult to achieve.

Originally Posted by cmrflyer (Post 2907002)

Delta could spin off horizon, freeing up a bunch of gates in Seattle and also recouping a decent amount of money.

Originally Posted by ASAPsafetyGUY (Post 2907111)

Of sell Horizon to OO for about 15 pence.

Originally Posted by Reactivity (Post 2906471)

As usual, the rumors are wrong.

I am buying Alaska.

Originally Posted by Mea25000 (Post 2909976)

Boeing seems confident Max certification by mid Q4...? We shall see. If something is coming M&A wise, I think it will be UAL and LUV doing the consuming. ALK most certainly has a target on its back right now.