Cowboy11

Was watching the morning new today, and this came across the ticker at the bottom of the screen. "United Airlines has stopped talking with US Airways about a possible merger...sources say that United and Continental are very close to deal". Interesting if this is the case. On another note, I was talking with an assistane GM for one of our stations and he told me that Continental is putting all of the stations up for bid! He went on to say that even when they put in a bid lower the AE, AE gets the contract anyway!

FROG

It seems you are correct...Here's the first few paragraphs of an article on AirlinePilotCentral.

Airline Pilot Central - NEWS

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- UAL Corp.'s United Airlines suspended merger talks with US Airways Group Inc. because of potential labor costs and is instead seeking an alliance with Continental Airlines Inc., two people familiar with the talks said.

United Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tilton told US Airways CEO Doug Parker of the decision in a meeting yesterday in Chicago, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the session was private. Discussions with Continental are progressing, the people said.

An alliance may allow United, the world's second-largest carrier, to sell tickets on Continental's international routes without having to combine workforces or win regulatory approval. Jet fuel, the airlines' biggest cost, has surged 84 percent in the past year, spurring consolidation in the industry.

``United is so thin over the Atlantic that an alliance with Continental makes sense,'' said Robert Mann of consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York. Cooperation would boost revenue even if the carriers didn't cut seat capacity, he added.

Hbrow15

The way I read it alliance means like Skyteam or Star Alliance or code share if you will, not merger

erj-145mech

Thats correct, its an alliance, not a merger.

Different terms and conditions.

__________________
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FROG

Yeah, it doesn't appear that "Merger" talks are on again.

iwannagofast

I'd like to see some more proof of that. SSDD if true.

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Hansel Sanchez

Not merging with United was probably the smartest thing CAL has done. A codeshare on the other hand will benefit both. I wonder what happened to the deal with American? CAL said a while back that they were pursuing a similar deal with AA.

pscraig

I wouldn't be surprised to see CAL do what NWA did-spin off everything to raise cash and just outsource everything. Kellner & Co are very good with numbers, but they should look at the damage spinoffs do to the core asset. Just look at NWA, and how that ended up.