So an airline makes a profit. Since when is that such a crime?

I agree that this only helps not hurts the merger.

Its not just airlines, there was an article in the WSJ a couple of months ago about industries that have had a lot of consolidation that are nervous about DOJ antitrust scrutiny. Only idiots that don't realize how much we are ticking off passengers and government regulators don't understand why there is so much resistance to this, and why this may just be the beginning of further DOJ scrutiny into the airlines.

One of the big reasons UAL is having problems is the CLE hub and their inability to "right size" or close it due to promises made to the state of Ohio and Rob Portman to get that merger approved. This was very similar to the promises Parker made to the state of Texas to get them to drop their part of the anti trust lawsuit.

Delta had a system wide load factor of 87% in August. That means good luck getting to Fort Lauderale within 3 days if your flight cancels. Delta is the least admired brand in the country according to Forbes. When your flight cancels, instead of running to the crew room or closing the cockpit door, go wander out into the concourse and listen to what is going on with these passengers. They aren't happy. When they aren't happy, they complain to elected officials. When they aren't happy, crap happens and they investigate. Its the nature of the business and has been for fifty years.

Whatever happens with US/AA if you think this government scrutiny is going away any time soon, you're mistaken.

Will be interesting to see what they say once the merged American starts "right sizing" hubs like Delta has done with Memphis and Cincinnati. My bet is the first to get "right sized" will be Charlotte.

again nothing you posted showed or proved anything "ticking people off"
is the norm when people feel like they should get things for free.

87% load factor is still too low in the summer months. Why should delta have planes with lower load factors?

Wrong CLT has a lot of potential and it could compete head to head with ALT. The company announced yesterday a hand full of new destinations to Europe from CLT, is cheap to operate out of there, easy to get in and out and don't forget the new cargo train coming right to the Airport.

Too bad the terminal and ramp are inefficient dumps.

Same thing was said about CVG until the DL merger was complete and then it was a different story. All this flying you are talking about can be flown out of MIA, PHL, or JFK just as easily. CLT has the lowest O/D numbers of the four east coast hubs so it will be an easy target.

Your correct, except people aren't gonna fly CHS-LAX via PHL or MIA. It is a connecting hub, but the only thing else around the southeast is ATL. In my opinion that's why it will stay around.

Go have a conversation with a few gate agents. Or like I said, go watch what happens when a flight cancels.

People don't feel like they should get things for free. They just expect to get to their destination within a reasonable time.

You question about 87% load in the summer demonstrates your ignorance of how the passenger service side of this business operates. Excess capacity is crucial in getting passengers to destinations when there are IROPs or other types of cancellations. 87% is so full that when flights cancel there is no way to get passengers to their destination in anywhere near a reasonable time frame. It is not unusual for passengers to take up to 3 days to get to a destination when there is a disruption. The drawdown of more capacity is a major concern with this merger along with the reduction in competition.

Never said it would close, but that it would be "right sized" similar to CVG and MEM. The only flights that would remain would be those that the local Charlotte traffic would support.