American & USAir Merge
After months of negotiation, Doug Parker, CEO of the US Airways announced that US Air and American have agreed to merge together creating the largest airlines in the world. The two companies agreed to an $11 billion deal allowing the American parent AMR to avoid bankruptcy.
The combined carrier will be called American Airlines and be based in Fort Worth however Phoenix will remain a corporate and operational hub.
Doug Parker email: Today we announced that American Airlines and US Airways will combine to create a premier global carrier. Operating under the iconic American Airlines name, one of the most recognized brands in the world, the combined airline will have a robust global network, a strong financial foundation and one of the most modern and efficient fleets in the industry. We are excited about what the combination of our two great airlines means for our valued customers.
The combined company will retain the iconic American Airlines brand name, and will provide you with more choices and better service throughout the world. The combined company will be headquartered in Dallas-Fort Worth and will maintain a significant corporate, operational and hub presence in Phoenix.
I hate this. Merger’s do nothing but eliminate competition. The only reason why we only have a couple of airlines left is partly because of government regulations. I have to hand it to the FAA though because they know that the airlines can’t obey all the regs. and stay in business. The only time that there is a problem with that is when a plane crashes and there is an investigation. That’s when we find out that the airline wasnt’ obeying all the regs..
I remember when America had a whole bunch of airlines. I worked for the airlines from 1982 to 1987 for a large regional commuter airline. We connected to Delta, and Southwest Airlines. But I remember when there were a number of airlines that flew out of my home town. We had Brannif, Delta, Continental, United Airlines, and TWA, or Trans World Airlines. Remember PanAm? That was Panamerican Airlines. These were some of America’s oldest airlines. They started flying when planes were made out of cloth and had two wings, “Biplanes” with one on top of the body and one beneth the body, and only carried six passengers. They started flying back in the 1920’s.
It’s so sad to see these airlines go by the wayside one by one. The 1960’s was Ameirca’s hayday of air travel. It was cheap, and the airlines really took good care of you. You were free to walk anywhere in the airport you wanted to, except the areas that where only airline personel were allowed. There was no restrictions on people whatsoever. No body searches, or anything like that. And there was alot of security officers around to, everywhere. And they had guns on them you could see, in holsters. And they watched everybody walking by and didn’t take any nonsense. What was wrong with that? No one caused any trouble.
And here’s the big question. How many people are going to be laid off because it happens everytime there’s a merger. Back in the middle 80’s when all these corporations were merging, buy outs, hostile takeovers, and all that sort of stuff, by the time the end of the 90’s came along, over 10 million people had lost their jobs permanently. Everytime some corporations merged, they would move out of the country in order to be able to keep their money. And the government was part of all that to because they helped all of our jobs go out of the country.
Thanks for your comments. I agree we should be concerned about monopolies in the airline industry. I’m not sure what the answer is though, should airlines be bailed out of bankruptcy to keep a false competition?