Minneapolis, Minnisota

Don't forget Missouri's own 'Benedict Arnold', Rep. DICK Gephart, who was in ALPA's back pocket and completely SOLD OUT his constituents in Missouri and let AA/APA/APFA cram down the most inequitable and most destructive 'un'integration in airline labor history---all in exchange for ALPA support for his Presidential run in '04.

The answer as to why Congress didn't intervene? Because nobody really cared; it was only 20,000 TWA employees, after all. And besides, AA/ALPA/APA had more members, more lobbyists, more spin doctors and more money. Pure and simply put---we were outnumbered and out-lobbied.

Bond and Talent tried, but failed. We owe them for that.

According to the USA Today, NWA-Delta merger will command 22% of all seats on US flights, and Delta-UAL merger will command 25% of all seats on US flights. Either way, it will create the largest US airline, if not in the world. Additionally, the merger will give the new merged airline a much bigger share of the international routes which are much more profitable than domestic routes. Airline management will push very hard for the merger to get going in the next few months. Whether it will be approved by the DOJ is a big question mark, but signs are it may happen.

How this merger will affect pilot hiring etc is the BIG unknown. Historically, mergers have not been a good news to pilots, but, the projection for the international travel in the next 5 years is to double from today's level so it may still bring about a healthy growth in pilot job opportunities. However, the age 65 rule will most likely decrease the pilot demand. This mega merger will also streamline regionals, and fewer regionals will survive this trend. For example NWA-Delta merger will not need Comair, Mesaba, Compass, RAH, Skywest and Pinnacle. It will want to consolidate them down to few regional airlines completely owned and controlled by the NWA-Delta. Which one of the regionals will survive is anybody's guess. Same scenario for Delta-UAL merger.

Flifast, B757200ER,

I sympathize with the plight of ex-TWA'ers however I can't agree with the anomosity and feelings of entitlement most TWA'ers have towards AA and the merger. I ainterviewed in 1994 at TWA and it was a sinking ship! The pay scales were an insult to the profession, $39,000 a year for an F/O at the 7 thats SEVEN year point! The guys I interviewed with were barely qualified, 1500 total time! I was hired but turned down the job because I couldn't afford to go the training due to ZERO pay while in training, $600 a month to stay at the "King Arthur Hotel while in training" plus pay for uniforms, crew bags etc....I stayed in the AF reserves instead and waited for better opportunities. I bought alot of TWA stock over the next 5 years (94-99) figuring as soon as TWA turned a profit I'd make some cash. DUMB move since by 99 every airline made money and their stocks were soaring except TWA!!! When AA merged with TWA it was like winning the lottery, even if you were pasted on the bottom of the seniority list. Of course 9-11 screwed everything up, but there is NO WAY imho TWA could have survived post 9-11 anyway...since they couldn't turn a profit in the 10 years prior!! I don't understand why TWA employees are so jaded about TWA...they must have been serving extra-strong kool-Aid in St. Louis....

Vito,

I respect your opinion, but you must respect ours. You didn't go through what we did. We weren't the ones with a 'sense of entitlement', far from it. The AA employees all felt they should keep their jobs, seats, and seniority, and all TWA employees should go to the unemployment line. That isn't the American way, and it most certainly isn't fair or equitable when a company like TWA brings assets to the deal.

Every major had low starting pay, Vito, and yes I stayed at the King Henry VIII hotel in STL during training, with a roommate. It was only $35/night, no big deal. My uniforms were payroll deducted, like most majors, and crewbags were the same. There were good deals on them, steeply discounted. Your pay rates are way off, I made $93,000 my 7th year at TWA as a B-767 F/O, flying Int'l. My first year was tough, but so was every other major.

If you count "winning the lottery" as losing your job, losing your seniority and losing your future at the merged airline, you and I are on different planets, my friend. What good is a pay raise if you're furloughed? Not for 1-2 years, but 6-7? My future at AA is a very poor one, with no upgrade for a decade after I get recalled, IF that even happens in '08/'09. I was 200 numbers away from Captain at TWA.

As for your prediction of TWA not surviving 9-11, that is pure speculation, nothing more. We'll never know. I do know this: I would have taken a chance on a stand-alone TWA after 9-11 rather than a 6-years-and-counting furlough from AA.

I see one of two scenarios taking place in the pax airline industry.

1: Consolidation (mergers and acquisitions)

or,

2: Bankruptcies and liquidations.

There is too much capacity in the industry already AND it is not very profitable. Their is either going to be consolidation - which would mean fewer carriers, albeit much leaner ones - or, consolidation does not occur and the weaker carriers (relatively speaking) enter bankruptcy and possible (probable) liquidation.

Either way there is going to be fewer carriers and the industry will be much leaner. If the government does not allow it through the approval of mergers and acquisitions, then the market will allow it.

B757200ER,

I was only quoting the pay rates that I saw when I interviewed on Mar 17th 1994, I'm glad you made more. By the way I had a few friends in my squadron who hung on at TWA and the pay did improve over time, but it was nobody's first choice. I was also 32 years old with a wife, kid, mortgage and no health insurance, except for me when I flew with the reserves, so even the fact that I had to pay for training was an insult to me...I know many of you guys had to do that to pay your dues at other airlines , but my dues paying days were over by then, and all I kept thinking as I sat in that dingy cafeteria at TWA headquarters was "Is this where all my hard work and sacrafice has lead me to? where's the pay-off? $39,000 after 7 years scared me, so I ran and never looked back....hope everything has worked out better for you, since the AA merger.
Take Care,
Vito

Saying they'll "sue to stop the deal" is not the same as stopping the deal. There were other factors that stopped that deal.

The anti-trust laws, when they are enforced at all, are aimed at monopolies and corporate combines that are, in and of themselves, created for the purpose of wiping out competition. They are not intended to inhibit the consolidation of companies in a failing industry such as the U.S. airlines, in which there are far too many network carriers.

Understood. Paying dues is a long, arduous process, and I had 4 airlines under my belt before coming to TWA. You can't give up a good military billet to go fly at an airline that pays low, but most majors are like that. Most majors also make you pay your own hotel, but give you a stipend during training. I think ours was $350/week.

Senator Talent wasn't in office when TWA/AMR was going through...pretty sure it was Ashcroft or Carnahan.