Phantom Flyer

I must be missing something here. First of all, congratulations to the CAL Board of Directors. I personally believe their decision was well thought out and will prove, over time, to be the correct course of action. CAL has the second strongest balance sheet in the industry, after Southwest, and has created a new culture and optimism in Houston. Merging with UAL would have been catastrophic in my view.

Secondly, where does the thought process that "mergers will help both carriers survive" come from ? How does putting two route structures together compensate for record crude oil futures and projections of continued increases for months to come. Yes, reducing some of the route duplication can account for small savings and some economy of scale is realized but in the long run, there has to be more downside risk. Read Bob Crandall's recent speech. There is a man who hit the nail on the head in talking about "mergers".

As for United, I think the music is slowing down. Forget AMR as a dance partner. NEVER happen. American is way to smart to crawl into bed with that dog. I believe United and U.S. Air tried to dance once before and the results were a disaster! I hope that I'm wrong but United just realized the music stopped and there are no chairs left.

If I had an extra $2.00 in my pocket, I'd go to the window and bet on CAL as an independent carrier. I'd rather be a healthy smaller dog than a big one struggling to contain costs, obtain labor peace (that's going to be fun!) and mesh two different carriers, cultures and philosophies.

Good luck to all !!

G'Day Mates