HAL failed in December, SWA in February, JetBlue probably still has some legs… but not with an about face by AS. UAL is outrageous and a guess, but what I have seen… seems very likely. Independent is what BM wants, his backstop is AAL and OneWorld. I have never said SY or heard any real SY rumblings since 2015. I think it is UAL. JetBlue still has a chance if UAL doesn’t move. SWA and HAL are dead.

Out of morbid curiosity, what/who is the problem with JB? Is it both management teams debating over who has a bigger D?

Does that mean you are holding ALK stock? United seems like a stretch but they do lag in domestic market share.

I was told.., control and brand.

So you are saying, Yes, biggest D…

Sounds like it. Sounds like a rock solid matrix through which to decide an M&A decision. Color me surprised.

I guess if it’s UAL BM will be the new CEO and they’ll have do some new Carebell adds. I wonder how many of the Chicago employees will feel about moving the home office to Seattle? 🤔🤔🤣

Of course BM wants to “go it alone”, that’s the only circumstance this Mgmt team keeps a job. The Virgin merger was all about preserving Mgmt jobs, but with a split between CEO and board Chair perhaps their vision isn’t as myopic. Hopefully the board is looking to maximize shareholder value, which means selling this place before the wheels really come off and our market cap tanks. Let’s hope OTZ is right about United, I’m not sure JBLU would be that great-since neither can staff their respective operations.

Alaska being bought one of the major airlines is a pipe dream fueled by the toxicity of the current situation at this place. There is very little chance that an acquisition by an airline such as United would ever meet regulatory approval.
I think Alaska management is banking on the likelihood of a recession in the near future to essentially bail them out of the mess they have created. In that case the competition’s growth likely slows allowing Alaska to safely stagnate and hunker down in Seattle while getting rid of the Airbus and eventually getting those pilots over to the Boeing.

I'm sure they're praying for a recession, like all the regional airline managers.

But a mild one won't make much of a dent in hiring, or guarantee that they'll be left alone by the bigs. UA and AA apparently will need to keep their training pipelines running for full bore just to have a hope of keeping up with retirements, I've heard they cannot afford to slow down in the near future.

It could be soo easy, agree to an industry leading contract, maybe start to attract more pilots and keep the ones you have on board and retain. I can’t image it’s cheaper to cancel 10% of your schedule vs having a new contract. Imagine they would only have to cancel 3%. They could create so much more traffic and revenue. One can dream… when is an answer expected from the mediator?