Airtran's merger plan...
 

Looks like someone has a good plan to capitalize on any fallout from the DL/NWA merger. Any thoughts?

(USA Today article)

WASHINGTON — Speaking to an audience that included officials from the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration, AirTran Airways CEO Bob Fornaro bluntly made clear his airline's desire for more landing rights at federally restricted airports in both New York and Washington.
Fornaro made those comments this afternoon while speaking to the Aero Club of Washington, D.C., saying that should two rivals merge, AirTran would "seek out" any slots or assets those carriers might have to relinquish – especially at the capacity-controlled airports of New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National.
AirTran would also be interested in securing space in Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare, should a merged rival divest assets at either of those airports. AirTran has made no secret of its desire to secure more space in Atlanta, where rival Delta is the dominant carrier. Delta is currently thought to be in advanced merger talks with Northwest.
"It may surprise some of you, but AirTran is in favor of consolidation," Fornaro said, adding "the sooner the better."
But Fornaro made it clear that while AirTran may look to pick up some landing slots if bigger airlines combine, he was not in favor of "consolidation at the expense of competition."
Saying that AirTran would like to further increase its attractiveness to business travelers, Fornaro said "access to key cities is absolutely crucial for us to develop a strong network."
"You have to go to the places they want to go," Fornaro said.

If the new Delta does relinquish these gates/slots, is it safe to assume they will require fewer airplanes (fewer pilots) than they already have? Is there enough planned growth (aircraft on order vs. aircraft retired and or no longer needed) at the new Delta to absorb the anticipated loss?

Interesting times... best of luck to everyone involved. I have friends at Delta that are excited about the merger, however they are also very senior and would not likely be affected negatively by this.

Delta guys excited about the merger? WOW, I was way off, I didn't think there was a single guy at Delta hoping for a merger with NW. DL seems to be all right alone.

These are guys who are thinking long term. Sure, Delta is "all right" alone, but they are much better off as a merged airline. Same with United and Continental, and whatever LCC mergers that will occur in the next year or so.

What's Forarno (?) supposed to say? He's worried about competing with megacarriers? NWA has 3-4 gates in ATL. Not much hope of forcing DAL to give up the B concourse. Gates and slots in NYC? DAL and NWA already share gates and concourses in LGA and EWR. There is no direct flight from LGA to MSP on DAL or LGA to ATL on NWA. If anything, the route overlap is at the regional level. Airlink and DCI serving two/three hubs from one outlying station.

When American acquired most of the TWA assets, the combined airline had to relinquish slots at LGA and DCA.

I'm thinking Air Tran is poising itself for the same scenario.

FF

When and If they merge there will be a ton of flying that is axed! There is no way around it!

I bet Southwest is foaming at the mouth to get into CVG! Should be interesting.

Fly good!

"these guys" are thinking that they will be getting the biggest pay out on the equity stake when it is distributed to the pilot group. They figure it will help out a little since they lost their A-plan and their seniority and quality of life will be little affected. Let's be realistic. When it comes down to it's all about $$ and cents for most guys.

As far as Airtran goes, they will be pushing the DOJ for all the legacies to divest gates at airports where they have a controlling interest. As a matter of fact all the LCC's will be doing this. I see that as the only way for a DAL-NWA and CAL-UAL combos to be allowed to happen. These airlines should know that the DOJ will do this in order to keep fares low (increase competition) in all markets. The DOJ will have an opportunity to totally change the face of major airline hubs that normal business has not been able to do. They beleive that the LCC's are the savior of low fares though lately I've been buying tix on majors because SWA was hundreds more for the same destinations.

I doubt that. Why? Because, that would mean millions of dollars of revenue lost to NWA and DAL. Not a chance. Most of the flying you might be referring to is already being relinquished to Mesaba and Compass (Sadly). NWA/DAL management is not dumb enough to relinquish any more flying to SWA, not if they can help it. I think SWA might be in for for tough times if NWA/DAL merges and then UAL/CAL merges.

Yeah, the DOJ is really going to care if they force the combined airline to take in 15% or so less revenue.

IF a merger occurs, the DOJ will force a reduction by the carriers in certain markets. In other markets that already overlap, the merged company will naturally attrit the flying, opening the door for other airlines to provide service.