With the talk of United/Delta, I wonder what the results might be. I suspect not good for either the consumer or affected workforce.

Clearly, the AWA/USAirways merger is still "in process".

What is the history/results behind some of the other previous mergers/acquisitions?

Western/Delta
Morris/SWA
National/Pan Am
Others.

Just curious if any of these or others have wound up working well to start and then over time.

 

I hear Aeroflot/Mesa announcement is only days away.

 

I am hearing that a Fedex/UPS merger is in the works. The new carrier will be called Fed UP.

 

Also El Al and Alitalia - they will call the merged carrier "Well I'll Tell Ya"

 

Guys-honestly I'm not rumormongering. It seems the functional history of mergers does not help labor (at least on one side). i'm simply wondering if any mergers acquisitions have gone smoothly

The United/Delta article simply prompted the general question.

 

I can't wait for Continental and Air Lingus merger, that's gonna be the most awesome name ever

 

NOT! Someone a;ways gets screwed!

 

Contilingus...... Nice!

 

It seems that whenever there is a merger, within 10 years one of the carriers route structures has disappeared (reason for the merger) but all of the personnel and other problems from a merger remains. What remains of the Western structure at Delta, what remained of PSA structure after the AAA merger, what remained at Pan Am of National, TWA at American, on and on. It appears to me that after the initial synergy of the merger, the managers get uncomfortable with a route structure that was unfamiliar with them in the first place and they begin to dump it. Just an observation.

 

The only people who really think airline mergers are a good idea are hedge fund managers who have foolishly dumped 100's of millions into airlines shares that have seriously under performed during the last 12 months. The latest rumor of a marriage between DAL and UAL originated with Pardus Capital, a hedge fund that owns 7 million shares of DAL and 5.6 million of UAL. Over at AAL, FL group urged AMR to spin off the loyalty program to "enhance shareholder value". 2 weeks later FL group reported an $80 million loss due to the sub prime meltdown. These hedge fund managers are under serious pressure from their rich clients. The other group of people that like mergers are investment bankers who are paid large money to put the deals together. Supporting cast members are the analyst's who recommended buying airlines stocks to begin with.

A merger between two large legacy's will not pass the anti trust scrutiny that is sure to follow. All of this talk of mergers is just to drive airlines shares higher.