GAPILOT36

Any word on how this went or is going????

justjack

Airline Employees Rally On Capitol Hill « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

justjack

US Airways, American Airlines employees march for merger - FOX 35 News Orlando

OK - Listen to this until the very end. FOX 10's Diane Ryan, says that her friend's husband is a "honcho" for US... I swear it sounds like she said "hairways".. has already moved to Dallas- which is true, but not so sure I'd want my friend in Phoenix talking about how I didn't want to move to Dallas on her am news program.

CanoePilot

probably all the botox to stretch that face back.

nwa757

Went very very good. Tons of press coverage, Senators speaking on behalf of merger, APA and USAPA reps on TV, very very well planned out and executed.

The meetings with 321 different Congressmen were well received.

CanoePilot

But in all honesty what could it really do in the end? The doj will continue unless it feels it can't or is in danger of an uncertain outcome in court. Holding signs and speaking with congressmen will only work for pr and the cameras.

Gallifrey

Some of you are really negative. Why not just relax and see what happens? It's nice that people who support it went and made their voices heard.

nwa757

Union officials met with DOJ Antitrust Chief as well, this is huge.

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-18/amr-us-airways-unions-meet-u-s-official-on-merger-suit.html

American Airlines (AAMRQ) and US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) union leaders told the U.S. antitrust chief opposing the carriers’ proposed merger that they fear jobs will be lost if he succeeds in blocking the deal.
The union officials met with William Baer, head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, at the agency’s Washington offices today for about 45 minutes, said Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants at AMR Corp.’s American.
“We were very interested in telling them about our strong support for the merger,” Glading said in a telephone interview. “We wanted to make sure they clearly understood how important the merger is to our jobs and our careers. We told them we’ve been in limbo too long.”
The session occurred as more than 300 airline employees fanned out across Capitol Hill to build support among members of Congress for the pending merger. Baer and Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Gelfand were “attentive” and interested in hearing the union leaders’ views, Glading said.
Gina Talamona, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said she had no immediate comment on the meeting.
AMR’s shares reversed an earlier decline and rose 1.3 percent to $3.82 in over-the-counter trading, while US Airways slid 0.7 percent to $18.59 at 12:39 p.m. in New York.
AMR’s bankruptcy-restructuring plan is built around the merger with Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways. The combined airline would become the world’s biggest and keep American’s name and headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The Justice Department sued the airlines last month to block the deal.
The case is U.S. v. US Airways Group Inc., 13-cv-01236, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

justjack

Strictly speaking, voting is not a rational choice, particularly if you vote red and live in a blue state or vote blue and live in a red state and yet nearly 60% of eligible voters turned out in the 2012 presidential election. Unless one can say with 100% certainty that this activism will make 0% change, then the appropriate response to these folks is a simple "Thank you for taking the time."
I think that one of the salient issues in this merger is whether or not American has alternatives outside of a merger. The fact that the American employees are committed to this merger is huge and their continued support outside this merger is doubtful, thus increasing the possibility of the House paying attention. The DOJ has argued that the merger is unnecessary for the survival of American and as we all know, there are certain re-election behaviors that both political parties engage in. If one of the main tenets of the DOJ’s case is shown to be flawed (American’s survival outside of the merger) then House members risk alienating voters if they do nothing if, in fact, the merger does not go through and American does not survive as a result.
I don't know if this will change the outcome, but I am certain that doing nothing should never be an option. There’s too much at stake.