Funny how all the failed interviews come out first.

 

If this thing comes to fruition it will be a relative seniority merge +/- 1-2% just like DL/NW, AW/USair.

Both airlines are hurting financially just one (UAL) is happening sooner, but CAL's time will come next year if things do not turn around. I am a CAL guy and our finances next year do not give me a warm fuzzy, and if this happens we as pilots will have to get together and make sure we are compensated very well for this merger.

 

Seems like if we have all learned anything in the past ten years it would be in our best interest to look out for PILOTS and not individual companies. These companies, CAL and UAL are are mere shells of what we professional pilots signed up for.

If there is a merger lets look out for US, the PILOTS, regardless of which carrier we came from. Look what all the fighting at USAir/AmWest has done for those individual pilots. Ego and nothing else has cost those guys tens of thousands of dollars.

 

AMEN!!!

 

How are you going to do that?

You already said that CAL's finances don't look good next year, and that both airlines are hurting. Where are you going to find that compensation?

All the EWR "Taking it Back" Prateresque rhetoric in the world isn't going to make money. What's the gameplan when both companies are hemorrhaging cash? Clevon Little's sheriff routine in Blazing Saddles?

FUPM....The loan is due...are you going to foreclose? If you do, what's your out?

Serious question. Not flamebait.

 

Let me throw out a question.


I see the Delta/Northwest merger as an incredible success, given the fact that it happened right at the start of a major economic recession. How would a UAL-CAL merger be any different? The only major difference I see is UAL/CAL has a much more compatible fleet and route network. How many DAL/NWA guys are on furlough right now? Who is the only legacy carrier to receive a substantial raise in the past year? DAL/NWA. All this after the two merged right before the biggest economic recession of my lifetime.


How is UAL/CAL any different?

 

Thats kind of funny you mention that. We had the same fragmentation language in our contract at ATA. CAL took more than 20% of our airplanes and not a single pilot went along with them.

 

It's substantially different on several levels. The biggest ones are balance sheets and core business performance. While the timing wasn't perfect for DAL/NWA, it's relatively awful for CAL/UAUA.

DAL/NWA was able to extract $2 billion in "free" money from Amex to remain the preferred credit card provider for the new airline. UAL/CAL won't have that opportunity in this econcomic environment, especially since much of Mileage Plus is already collateralized. Second, both DAL and NWA had fixed their core business in bankruptcy. UAL didn't. CAL didn't go into bankruptcy this round. It shows in the combined financial numbers when comparing DAL to either CAL or UAUA. DAL is producing free cash from operations and will probably eek out positive cash flow over the year. Absent an amazing economic turn, UAUA won't. They're burning furniture.

There's another stalking horse out there too. LCC and UAUA going into CH11 together and coming out with a prepackaged deal. Preventing that would be very expensive for CAL.

 

Don't remind me

 

FWIW
Goldman Sachs just bought 14.4M shares of CAL B stock.