Well I think it can be good for the industry. But we'll wait and see if the DOJ approves it.
And I want to put a quiet on those thinking of a AA-CO merger. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!! There is no way the DOJ would approve such a merger. AA has a hub in Dallas, CO in Houston; AA has a hub in New York (JFK), CO in the New York-area (EWR); AA has a hub in Chicago, CO in Cleveland. One huge airline having hubs so close to each other will in essence create a monopoly. You know, IMO and all...
- Jake
Nope, but COA and UA have said they have a deal in the works if/when DAL and NWA goes through. http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080414/airlines_continental.html?.v=4
DAL and NWA is official, though: http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=11034
I would love a UA-CO merger, as long as they keep Mileage Plus and not OnePass.
If anything, it would be UAL/COA. For one, if they merge, UAL will not drop out of Star Alliance. They are the biggest rep for them in the US (USA being the second). So it would be COA that would drop out of SkyTeam.
Second, UAL would benefit from an additional hub at EWR to compliment the chaos at JFK. They could even move out of there totally. They could also gain with a presence in Texas by inhabiting KIAH.
Third, with UAL probably being the stronger of the two, COA would probably get eaten up so they wouldn't go back on their word to never use anything Airbus. That would be the biggest thing stopping the merger. Unfortunately, this would mean the reintroduction of the B737 into UAL's fleet, as they are phasing out 20 of their 30 B735s this year, with more to exit in the next 2.
All in all, with 6 down, 1 in Ch. 11, 1 merger and possibly a 2nd, expect higher fares in the next year or so. It will be very interesting to see how things roll out.
BL.
