At The 2008 World Travel Market Airline Program

Mergers, fuel surcharges, open skies agreements - debate the future of flying

The airline industry continues to generate headline news; the 2008 World Travel Market Airline Program will explore the burning issues in a series of thought-provoking seminar sessions.

Airline Industry

World airlines face harsh reality: consolidate or perish

Air New Qantas? Singapore Virgin? Air Tiger X? The idea of super carriers ruling the skies has been talked about almost as long as airlines have been around.

View From A Pilot

Why airline mergers don’t fly

Throughout the current debate about the future of the airline industry there has been one constant refrain: the airlines must cut capacity. Some analysts say the industry needs to cut so much capacity, in fact, that the only way to do it by combining two or more airlines in a merger. United is playing along: it is getting rid of 100 mainline ... read more

Airbus, Boeing And Airline Mergers

Do airline deals favor Boeing or Airbus?

Among the assets US Airways would bring to a merger is one that its potential partner totally lacks - an aircraft order.

If United were to merge with US Airways, it would gain access to an order for 92 narrowbody and widebody Airbus aircraft, with a list price around $10 billion, making the France-based airplane maker a likely winner if ... read more

US Air CEO

Pilot seniority takes a long time to work out

TEMPE, Ariz. — Few, if any, CEOs have been bigger boosters of airline consolidation than US Airways chief Doug Parker.
But Parker wonders if Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines apparent combination plans will work, especially if the carriers wait for pilots to first agree who gets seniority.

"It's going to be extremely hard to ... read more

Airline Mergers Hassles

Pilots’ battles over seniority play havoc with airline mergers

Merger talks between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have been held up for a couple of weeks while pilots at each carrier discuss how to combine their union seniority lists.

How long can such a procedural matter take to resolve? If the last big airline merger is any guide, the answer is 28 months. And counting.

Airline Union Says It Opposes Mergers

Machinists union says it will oppose mergers

NEW YORK - The union that represents baggage handlers and ticket agents at Northwest and other airlines says it will oppose any merger.

The International Association of Machinists says airline mergers hurt workers and passengers. The union also represents workers at United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and other carriers.

Merger Worries Rise

Airline changes may cut choices

Boston area air travelers could be in for some turbulence if the airline industry experiences a wave of consolidations, which appears inevitable.

Delta and Northwest airlines - both of which fly in and out of Boston’s Logan International Airport - could announce as early as tomorrow that they’re merging to create the nation’s ... read more

Airline Mergers

What China can learn from U.S. airline consolidation

The normally astute (and often erudite) BusinessWeek falters a tad in analyzing the value of the coming wave of airline mergers in the United States.

Online Ado

Priceline, Orbitz wary of airline M&A

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Online travel agents could feel the pinch from airline consolidation, as deals combining the largest U.S. carriers would shift the balance of power in the ticket-selling business.

JetBlue

JetBlue would gain from airline mergers, CEO says

JetBlue Airways Corp. chief executive officer Dave Barger said airline mergers would benefit JetBlue and other U.S. carriers by limiting capacity.

"Consolidation would be very good for the industry," Barger said Friday in a Bloomberg Television interview. "There's still too many airline seats chasing the demand."

Airlines

A Wave of matchups on deck for airlines?

The Delta-Northwest combination inching toward completion would create a new world leader, leapfrogging American Airlines and the Air France-KLM tandem in passenger traffic, but would also likely trigger a chain reaction of other deals, with unknown consequences for travelers.

Politics Of Airlines Mergers

House panel chairman vows to fight airline mergers, hold hearings

The Democratic chairman of a key House committee pledged a vigorous effort to slow or stop, if possible, a proposed merger between Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and rival carriers Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) and United Airlines.

Only Way To Go?

Airline execs eye consolidation

PHOENIX — As U.S. airlines pressure each other with low fares, executives are keeping an eye on consolidation efforts as the one sure way to squeeze profits out of an industry plagued by sky high fuel costs.

Delta Air Lines

Honeymoon is over for new Delta CEO Anderson

Many newly minted CEOs enjoy a brief honeymoon with their companies — a laid-back chance to kick the tires and look things over before really taking the wheel.

Not Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Richard H. Anderson.

NWA, DAL

Airline mergers are for suckers

The theory at places like Delta is that airline mergers build stronger companies more likely to weather economic downturns. That does not take into account that a combination with a company like Northwest may actually allow for few costs. Also, poor customer service, which is often part of mergers, could drive away customers.

Airlines Meregers

Mergers benefit airlines; shame about the fliers

Some corporate mergers have little effect on customers. But when big airlines merge, it changes life for travelers, leading to higher ticket prices, poorer service and maybe even a switch in the credit card you carry.