From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 2 01:32:25 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 20:32:25 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways Orders Blended Winglets for Seven Boeing 757-200 Aircraft Message-ID: <20061101203214.K26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 1 November 2006 ; Yahoo (PR Newswire) US Airways Orders Blended Winglets for Seven Boeing 757-200 Aircraft http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061101/sfw053.html?.v=82 --- Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglet Technology Improves Range, Saves Fuel and Boosts Payload Capability SEATTLE, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- US Airways has ordered Blended Winglets for seven Boeing 757-200 airplanes, for retrofit beginning in January 2007. The aircraft to be Performance Enhanced with Aviation Partners Boeing revolutionary patented Blended Winglet Technology will be utilized on scheduled ETOPS service between the US East Coast and Europe. "Performance advantages of Blended Winglet Technology for the Boeing 757- 200 are as compelling and dramatic as the fuel saving benefits," says Aviation Partners Boeing CEO John Reimers. "Blended Winglets will give US Airways additional range and fuel margin capability over the Atlantic while generating fuel savings fleet wide, of over 200,000 gallons per year per Blended Winglet equipped 757-200. In today's tough airline operating environment Blended Winglet Technology gives operators a compelling edge." On trans-Atlantic operations to and from Philadelphia, US Airways will benefit from a 200 nautical mile Blended Winglet range boost and projected fuel savings of more than 1,000 gallons per round trip. On potential future operations from Phoenix and Las Vegas to Hawaii, the Blended Winglet advantage translates into significant fuel savings, better performance against headwinds and improved payload capability. "US Airways can look forward to payload benefits of 2,000 to 10,000 pounds on flights to and from Hawaii from Las Vegas and Phoenix, depending upon headwinds and temperature conditions," says Aviation Partners Boeing Sales Director Christopher Stafford. "Blended Winglet Technology significantly improves aerodynamic efficiency of the wing. A 757-200, upgraded with Blended Winglet Technology, is a better performing and much more efficient aircraft. Combine this performance advantage with a typical payback period of less than 3 years -- based on fuel savings alone -- and it's not hard to see why our 757-200 winglet program has become such an unqualified market success." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 2 01:33:36 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 20:33:36 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Flight attendants picket US Airways Message-ID: <20061101203304.N26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 1 November 2006 ; Arizona Republic Flight attendants picket US Airways http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/1031az-usairways31-ON.html --- Passengers dropped off on the north curb at Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 were greeted by picketing US Airways flight attendants Tuesday. Flight attendants say stagnant wages and sluggish contract negotiations are among their complaints. Some chanted "Shame on Doug," referring to US Airways chief Doug Parker. The head of the Association of Flight Attendants says they're among the lowest paid in the industry. advertisement A spokesman for US Airways says the company sympathizes with the flight attendants and is willing to negotiate with them. The company says it would like to have labor negotiations with flight attendants, mechanics and all other employees settled by the middle of next year. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 8 12:25:07 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 07:25:07 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Op-Ed: Rendell should turn US Airways down Message-ID: <20061108072459.T26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 8 November 2006 ; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Op-Ed: Rendell should turn US Airways down http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/columnists/markowitz/s_478671.html --- By Jack Markowitz FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW The election is over. For a little while no politician has to pander. Gov. Ed Rendell should seize this opportunity. He should declare that Pennsylvania will give no public subsidy to US Airways to build a flight operations control center here. Then he should get on the phone to the governors of Arizona and North Carolina. And urge them, governor to governor, to take the same stand: that is, send US Airways away with a polite no. Because enough is enough. States have to quit bidding against each other for industry using taxpayers' money. US Airways is a free enterprise. It should build and pay for its own flight operations center -- and would without politicians dangling "incentives." In this case no small change is involved: some $25 million. The US Airways design would put 400 to 600 people to work. So $25 million divvies up to $41,000 to $65,000 per job. Sounds nuts, doesn't it? But let's be fair. And here's the cruel part. US Airways already employs 450 workers at an existing, apparently obsolete, control center near Pittsburgh International Airport. Plus 175 others at a similar location near Phoenix. One group will lose their livelihoods if the airline picks the other site; or both if it opts for a third, Charlotte, N.C. Hence the sleazy bidding war. Three states that ought to know better are ready to throw public money at an airline whose survival, after all, hinges on something else and wholly within its own control: getting the doggone airplanes and baggage where they're supposed to go on time. There's a further bizarre detail. Phoenix claims that its $25.3 million in "incentives" include $16.2 million in so-called New Market Tax Credits. It seems there's a federal program to steer investment toward "underserved" communities. Phoenix, one of the country's fastest-growing sun spots, is underserved? Who'd have thought it? No doubt it would take serious grit for Rendell to break the cycle in the increasingly absurd war between the states for "job creation." But the election's over. He can't run for governor again anyway. He can practice honest economics now. And that would involve promoting true job creation. By working to cut the size and cost of the state Legislature and bureaucracy. By cutting taxes. And discouraging the militancy of organized labor (which is the real hole-card that Arizona and the Carolinas hold against Pennsylvania). And trying to keep the coming dominance of gambling interests in state politics from wreaking too much ruin on families, communities and competing business. As to US Airways operations control center workers, if a taxpayer subsidy isn't forthcoming, their marching orders are clear: to be the best control center workers in the country. So US Airways would surely build here, or else the management knows not what it does. Retired business editor Jack Markowitz writes Sundays and Wednesdays. E-mail him at jmarkowitz at tribweb.com. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 8 12:27:01 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 07:27:01 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Threatening note found on US Airways plane Message-ID: <20061108072652.V26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 8 November 2006 ; Beaver County Times Allegheny Times Threatening note found on US Airways plane http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17433165&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6 --- Authorities at Philadelphia International Airport shut down two runways after a threatening note was found aboard a US Airways plane arriving from San Diego, a CBS television news affiliate in Philadelphia reported late Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said a 'threatening note' that referenced explosives was found aboard US Airways Flight 1500, prompting a response by emergency personnel, the television station reported. After the flight landed at 3:15 p.m., all 127 passengers were interviewed by officials and re-screened prior to entering the airport to catch connection flights and claim baggage. The incident remains under investigation and no arrests have been made. Airport officials said air traffic was not affected and flights were arriving and departing as scheduled. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Nov 11 05:52:24 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 00:52:24 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways attendants angry over coupon-distribution duties Message-ID: <20061111005210.Y26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 11 November 2006 ; Chicago Tribune US Airways attendants angry over coupon-distribution duties http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-061110usairways-story,0,5882372.story --- By Mary Schlangenstein Bloomberg News US Airways Group Inc., which sells ads on seat-tray tables and air-sickness bags, has angered flight attendants by agreeing to have them distribute coupons for a chain of ice cream stores. "Our primary job is to be onboard as safety professionals," Mike Flores, president of the Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways, told members on the union's Web site. "Secondarily, our job is to promote US Airways by offering the finest in-flight service in the country. That does not include hawking other companies' goods and services." Major U.S. airlines are embracing ways to make money beyond ticket sales after more than $40 billion in losses from 2001 through last year. The efforts include selling food and other items on planes and charging for curbside baggage check-in. The giveaway on US Airways planes involves coupons for $1 off purchases at Phoenix-based Cold Stone Creamery, airline spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said in an interview today. More than 250,000 of the cards will be distributed Nov. 13 through Nov. 21 on 1,600 flights from Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte, North Carolina, Wunder said. She wouldn't disclose terms of the agreement between Cold Stone and Tempe, Arizona- based US Airways. The airline has 7,262 flight attendants. In response to attendants' complaints, Sherri Shamblin, the airline's managing director of inflight services, agreed to meet with union leaders to discuss marketing promotions. It's too late, however, to stop the coupon distribution, she said. "These marketing promotions generate revenue for both the company and in many cases, you, the flight attendant," Shamblin said in a letter to attendants. "They certainly are not meant to be demeaning or degrading." The attendants union is now in contract talks with US Airways, the seventh-largest U.S. carrier. The promotion "was a success" when US Airways conducted it last year, Wunder said. "Our customers really enjoyed it," she said. "I have a very large problem with the marketing department's seemingly endless use of what they may think is free labor to do their bidding," Flores said yesterday in his message to union members. Flores didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. A call to Cold Stone also wasn't immediately returned. US Airways in September began carrying air-sickness bags with advertisements. The carrier said it expected $10 million in annual revenue from the bags and other initiatives such as gift- card sales. Tray-table ad sales started in 2003. Shares of US Airways rose 39 cents to $49.39 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has climbed 50 percent in the past year. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 15 01:49:00 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:49:00 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways pilots seek additional leverage for new labor deal Message-ID: <20061114204843.C26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 14 November 2006 ; Business Journal of Phoenix US Airways pilots seek additional leverage for new labor deal http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/11/13/daily16.html --- by Mike Sunnucks The Business Journal A labor union representing airline pilots is stepping up its pressure for new deal with Tempe-based US Airways Group Inc. The campaign includes new billboards in Phoenix and Charlotte, pressuring US Airways management to carve out a new deal that integrates pilots from the 2005 merger with America West Airlines The Air Line Pilots Association wants a new post-merger agreement with US Airways that takes into account past concessions and the carrier's current financial stability. ALPA pilots will picket at the Phoenix and Charlotte airports and the billboards are aimed at jump-starting contract talks with management which have been going on for a year. US Airways officials said the pilots' actions will not disrupt service. "The informational picketing slated to be conducted by our pilots is purely informational; it will not impact our operations. We respect our employees' right to make their voices heard. Our pilots do a spectacular job of taking care of our customers and we look forward to negotiating with our pilot group in the proper forum," said airline spokesman Morgan Durrant in a statement. US Airways (NYSE: LCC) serves 230 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 16 02:07:33 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:07:33 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways Makes Hostile Offer for Delta Message-ID: <20061115210720.B26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 15 November 2006 ; Houston Chronicle US Airways Makes Hostile Offer for Delta http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4336100.html --- By HARRY R. WEBER AP Business Writer ATLANTA -- US Airways made a hostile $8 billion bid for Delta Air Lines on Wednesday, ignoring Delta's repeated statements that it isn't interested in a merger. The move could start a stampede of competing bids in a long-predicted industry consolidation. Analysts said United Airlines' parent company may make its own move to acquire Delta, and takeover bids for Northwest Airlines, which like Delta is being reorganized in bankruptcy court, can't be ruled out. They also questioned whether US Airways could complete its plan to create the nation's largest carrier, even after a planned 10 percent cut in capacity, on the compacted timeline it is seeking. "My main question mark is if the politicians and regulators would allow it to happen, because if it did it would probably set off a trend for industry consolidation," Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said of a Delta-US Airways combination. It also could lead to higher ticket prices for passengers, industry experts said. "With a capacity reduction of 10 percent, fares are going nowhere but up," said Robert W. Mann, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based airline consultant. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., who is set to become chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he is concerned the combination would reduce competition and increase costs for travelers. "If the Justice Department on its own does not initiate an antitrust review, I would ask them to do that," he said. Delta said its goal remains to be a stand-alone company when it emerges from bankruptcy and that it had the backing of its creditors committee when it declined earlier discussions with US Airways. It has yet to file its own plan of reorganization, but has the exclusive right to do so until Feb. 15. If the deal is completed, the combined airline would operate under the Delta name and serve more than 350 destinations across five continents. The combined company would divest certain assets, including one of the two hourly shuttle services that Delta and US Airways operate between Boston, New York and Washington. US Airways has not decided where the combined company would be based. The US Airways offer comes as it and America West are still integrating their operations after their combination last year. To date, only 57 percent of America West planes have been painted over with US Airways' logos, a spokesman said. The deal also comes with a host of labor-related complications, according to aviation consultant Mann. "There will be a huge seniority integration problem that will result. It's already problematic after the US Airways-America West merger. This will only increase it fourfold," he said. As it stands now, Delta's existing common shares are likely to end up worthless when it exits bankruptcy. In most bankruptcy cases, debtholders end up with new shares of the company. That's where the US Airways offer comes in: It is proposing to pay Delta's unsecured creditors $4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock after Delta emerges from bankruptcy. Shares of US Airways Group Inc. rose $8.57, or 16.83 percent, to $59.50 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Delta Air Lines Inc. shares are traded over the counter. Doug Parker, chief executive of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, said in an interview he believes Delta's creditors ultimately will see that his offer is fair. "The (bankruptcy) process is designed so that the creditors get the highest possible value for their clients," he said. Parker said he would anticipate flying with 10 percent fewer planes, but "the plan is not predicated on any job cuts" for the 85,000 employees at the two companies. The combination would create a company with about $28 billion in annual revenue, leapfrogging it past the current No. 1 U.S. carrier, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. The projection is based on revenue figures through the first nine months of 2006. It's unclear how any divestitures would affect a combined Delta-US Airways' revenue. Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein said last month he had received "feelers" from UAL Corp.'s United Airlines about a possible merger 18 months ago, but quickly rejected them. And he said in a statement Wednesday that "Delta's plan has always been to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of 2007 as a strong, standalone carrier." In a memo later to employees, Grinstein was more firm, saying "while Delta is obligated to review this proposal carefully, we remain skeptical that it would make sense to deviate from our plan." Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based UAL sidestepped questions about its intentions but didn't rule out a possible bid. "We think consolidation is good for the industry," said Jake Brace, chief financial officer, when asked about its plans at a Citigroup investment conference in New York. "If it makes sense for us to participate in it, we will." One analyst called United the perfect merger companion for Delta, with its trans-Pacific routes and international network matching up well with Delta's strengths on Atlantic and Latin American routes. "If anyone takes over Delta, bet on United," said CreditSights' Roger King. Morningstar analyst Brian Nelson also said he sees a United pursuit of Delta as a possibility, even though it would conflict with its stated strategy of paying down debt. Bill Hochmuth, an analyst who tracks airlines at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, said Northwest Airlines Corp.could potentially be an acquirer, although probably as more of a merger of equals. Other airlines either declined to comment or said they were reviewing US Airways' offer. US Airways, which was created after US Airways emerged from bankruptcy and was acquired by America West last year, said the deal is expected to generate $1.65 billion in annual savings from optimization of the airlines' networks and combining facilities in overlap airports. US Airways sent a letter touting the Delta buyout to its frequent flyers, claiming the deal would reduce fares and combine the two airlines' frequent flyers programs, making it easier to redeem miles. During a conference call, some analysts were skeptical of US Airways' confidence it can get the deal done if Delta is hostile to the bid. They also questioned why US Airways is bidding for Delta, as opposed to another airline, like Northwest, which also is in bankruptcy. Parker said Delta bid makes more sense because of the synergies that can be realized. He also said he is confident the deal can clear all the hurdles it needs to and "would prevail over any other bid if there were any." US Airways has hubs in Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. Delta's hubs are in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City. The deal makes the most sense only if it is consummated through the bankruptcy process, rather than waiting until after emergence to reach agreement, Parker said. That's because of further cost cuts that could be gained through the bankruptcy court. As for employees, Parker said "we happen to have similar labor costs on both sides." He did not discuss pilot pay. US Airways has received a commitment from Citigroup Inc. to provide $7.2 billion in new financing for the deal. The funding would be used to refinance Delta's debtor-in-possession credit facility, refinance US Airways' existing senior secured facility with GE Capital, and provide funds for the $4 billion cash portion of the offer. All other allowed secured debt and administrative claims would be assumed or paid in full. As of the end of May, Delta owed $7.49 billion to holders of secured claims, according to a court filing. US Airways said the offer is a 25 percent premium over the current trading price of Delta's pre-petition unsecured claims as of Tuesday, and a 40 percent premium over the average trading price for Delta unsecured claims over the last 30 days. --- Associated Press Writer Daniel Yee in Atlanta and AP Business Writers Joshua Freed in Minneapolis, Dave Carpenter in Chicago, David Koenig in Dallas, Brad Foss in Washington and Vinnee Tong in New York contributed to this report. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 16 02:09:15 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:09:15 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Pilots' billboard near airport chastises US Airways Message-ID: <20061115210906.U26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 15 November 2006 ; East Valley Tribune Pilots' billboard near airport chastises US Airways http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=78983 --- By Donna Hogan, Tribune US Airways pilots are taking their battle for more money to the air. The local branch of the Air Line Pilots Association bought billboard space adjacent to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport runways to chastise airline management for not meeting union demands for an improved contract that would merge US Airways and America West crews. "The billboard speaks to a wide audience -- employees, customers, investors and management -- reminding everybody of the promises the company made a year ago," said Tania Bziukiewicz, spokeswoman for the former America West pilots. Tempe-based America West acquired then-bankrupt US Airways in September 2005, adopting the more nationalsounding East Coast carrier's moniker. The merged carrier has spent the year since integrating everything from airport operations to Web sites and reservation systems, frequent flier programs, beverage brands and even peanut policies. Integrating the work force has been the toughest nut to crack. Pilots and other unionized employee groups want more money and better contract terms, but US Airways CEO Doug Parker has repeatedly said he won't boost costs above existing contract levels. Bziukiewicz said that's not good enough. "America West pilots' pay has always lagged, and US Airways pilots gave concessions (in bankruptcy agreements)," she said. "Now the airline is successful, but the company will never gain (cost efficiencies) without a single contract." The Tempe airline's management is aware of the billboard but not offended by it, spokesman Morgan Durrant said. "We respect our employees' right to make their voices heard," Durrant said. But he said it won't change any minds regarding contract negotiations. The pilots also plan a more grounded strategy. Bziukiewicz said they will picket Thursday at Sky Harbor and US Airways' East Coast airport hub in Charlotte, N.C. The demonstration is only to solicit passenger sympathies. The pilots are bound by existing contracts and cannot strike. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 16 02:11:53 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:11:53 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways, America West pilots to picket Thursday Message-ID: <20061115211142.M26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 15 November 2006 ; MarketWatch US Airways, America West pilots to picket Thursday http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?siteid=mktw&guid=%7BCDD4205A-73C9-4067-8F34-6D2979D4A220%7D --- By Ana Campoy SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pilot groups from U.S. Airways Group Inc. and America West late Wednesday said they will picket Thursday at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The pilots will protest "against management's unwillingness to fully participate in negotiations for a fair, single contract that addresses the pilots' basic needs and allows the company to realize the full synergies obtainable from merging US Airways and America West Airlines," said Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents the pilots, in a statement. The pilot union also said U.S. Airways must first focus on "fulfilling the promises made to their investors, customers and employees for the America West-US Airways merger" before embarking on its proposed acquisition of Delta Air Lines Inc. (DALRQ). Earlier today U.S. Airways offered $8 billion in cash and stock for Delta, but Delta rebuffed the offer. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 16 02:14:39 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:14:39 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] S&P Puts US Airways Debt on CreditWatch Message-ID: <20061115211320.D26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 15 November 2006 ; Forbes S&P Puts US Airways Debt on CreditWatch http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/ap/2006/11/15/ap3178281.html --- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said Wednesday it placed the credit ratings of US Airways Group Inc. and subsidiaries on CreditWatch with developing implications, following the carrier's $8 billion bid for rival Delta Air Lines Inc. The credit-rating agency also put its ratings on Delta's enhanced equipment trust certificates on CreditWatch with developing implications. Ratings on enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC's) of Delta Air Lines (rated "D") were also placed on CreditWatch with developing implications. The CreditWatch placement does not affect "AAA" rated EETC's that are covered by bond insurance. EETC's are debt instruments that allow a company to possess an asset and pay for it over time, with the debt secured by equipment or physical assets. US Airways earlier Wednesday made an unsolicited $8 billion cash-and-stock bid for Delta, which is operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. US Airways said it sees substantial "synergies" created by a merger through revenue growth and cost cuts. Delta has said it wants to remain a standalone carrier. "If US Airways is successful in completing the merger with Delta and realizing these synergies, ratings could be raised modestly," S&P credit analyst Betsy Snyder said in a statement. "Alternatively, if US Airways completes the merger but encounters problems with integrating the two airlines, particularly among the different labor groups, or if a potential competing bid for Delta forces US Airways to raise its bid materially, ratings could be lowered." US Airways shares climbed as high as $59.50, the highest point since shares began trading in September after the carrier emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, before slipping back to $59.36 - up $8.43 or 16.5 percent. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 16 22:49:58 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:49:58 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Salt Lake hub to stay, says US Airways Message-ID: <20061116174947.C26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 16 November 2006 ; Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake hub to stay, says US Airways http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_4668201 --- SLC's key worry is whether Delta will keep the hub By Paul Beebe Salt Lake City International Airport would continue to be a major airline hub if US Airways Group succeeds in its hostile $8 billion cash and stock offer for Delta Air Lines, US Airways President Scott Kirby said Wednesday. But some analysts aren't so sure. They say US Airways already has strong airport operations in Phoenix and Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City may gradually become less important to the combined companies if a deal goes through. Local Delta pilots say they hope the airline can remain independent after it emerges from bankruptcy early next year. They say the cost-cutting measures and revenue-building steps that Delta has taken in the past 14 months are beginning to pay off in profits and might be short-circuited by a merger. In St. George, where SkyWest Inc. is based, executives are cautiously optimistic that contracts for the subsidiary airlines that fly hundreds of routes for Delta will be honored. If the two companies join, US Airways' Kirby said his airline would run Delta's Salt Lake City hub and its own hub in Phoenix as compatible operations with few layoffs and only minor adjustments to the destinations each hub serves. "Salt Lake City would remain a very important and significant part of our route network. Additionally, we would maintain significant employment in Salt Lake City. Our plans are for minimal changes," Kirby said. A hub is an airport that airlines use as a key transfer point to get passengers to their destinations. Delta's hub in Salt Lake City provides thousands of high-paying jobs, brings travelers to Utah who might not otherwise visit the state and provides the city bragging rights that help attract businesses and tourists. Kirby said the Salt Lake City hub, where Delta employs 3,900 people, including 580 pilots, would serve northern tier cities between the eastern and western United States, such as Milwaukee and Boise. Routes from Phoenix would run to southern destinations such as Austin, Texas, and Bakersfield, Calif., he said. "We would continue to serve East and West Coast cities through both hubs," Kirby said. Delta also has hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati and New York, at JFK Airport. US Airways, formed 14 months ago by a merger with America West, has major airport operations in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. Airline experts say the hubs most at risk from a Delta-US Airways merger would be Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Charlotte and Philadelphia. "US Airways has strong hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Do you need three east-west connecting hubs on a 500-mile axis up and down the western United States?" said Mike Boyd, an analyst with The Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo. Kirby said Boyd is wrong. US Airways "has access to all the details and numbers and we believe it does make sense" to keep a large hub in Salt Lake City, he said. Delta has said little about the merger proposal since it was disclosed early Wednesday. In a short statement, chief executive Gerald Grinstein acknowledged receiving a letter from US Airways CEO Doug Parker and said the board of directors would review it. The airline has no comment about the Salt Lake City hub or its future. But Grinstein said the airline's plan to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of 2007 as a stand-alone carrier is unchanged. And he noted that the bankruptcy court has given Delta the exclusive right to restructure the company until Feb. 15. Word of a possible linkup between Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline in terms of revenue, and No. 6 US Airways did not surprise Charles Swindells, a Salt Lake City-based pilot who flies Boeing 767 jetliners for Delta. Speculation has swirled for several months that Delta could be a takeover target, he said. Swindells doesn't know if US Airways can pull off the merger. He hopes Grinstein, who plans to retire after Delta exits bankruptcy, can keep the airline independent. Only if substantially improved job security and earnings potential would result would he feel comfortable with a merger. "Right now, the best thing for Delta employees is to reorganize and emerge as a stand-alone carrier. I think we have a good team leading us. We've made a lot of positive steps reorganizing our network, and I think it's only now beginning to show dividends for us," Swindells said. Calyon Securities airline analyst Ray Neidl raised the possibility that regional carriers such as SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines could be harmed by the merger. That view was downplayed by Michael Kraupp, SkyWest's vice president of finance. He said SkyWest insisted on protections for itself when it bought ASA from Delta in September 2005, a week before Delta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "SkyWest and ASA have regional contracts that have already been affirmed in bankruptcy. If a merger were to occur, then we would anticipate that our contracts would be honored," Kraupp said. SkyWest and ASA operate as Delta Connection carriers. Their contracts with Atlanta-based Delta run for another 14 years. US Airway's offer faces many obstacles, and analysts questioned whether the deal can be completed before Delta is ready to leave bankruptcy. "We would not be surprised if other offers emerge for Delta and that an industry trend in mergers and acquisitions starts. The key to this happening depends on whether politicians and regulators give positive indications to industry consolidation," Neidl said. The offer comes as US Airways and America West are still integrating their operations after their combination last year. Only 57 percent of America West planes have been painted over with US Airways' logos. And sorting out seniority issues would be a headache, said Ed Thiel, a Salt Lake-based Delta pilot. "They still haven't merged US Airways and America West pilots. It's such a difficult issue that it will eventually go to arbitration." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Nov 17 12:07:24 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 07:07:24 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways Pilots Demand Fair Contracts Message-ID: <20061117070715.P26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 17 November 2006 ; Washington Post US Airways Pilots Demand Fair Contracts http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601149 --- By AMANDA LEE MYERS The Associated Press PHOENIX -- US Airways pilots are demanding fair contracts before the airline moves to acquire rival Delta Air Lines Inc. About 200 of the pilots belonging to the Air Line Pilots Association picketed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday, a day after the company announced a hostile cash and stock bid valued at about $8.7 billion for Atlanta-based Delta. US Airways pilots work under two contracts _ one for pilots who came from America West Airlines after it bought US Airways when it was in bankruptcy protection in September 2005, and another for pilots who were always at US Airways. Contract negotiations began shortly after the airlines combined, and there are no deals in sight. US Airways and America West are still integrating their operations. For instance, to date only 57 percent of America West planes have been painted over with US Airways' logos, a spokesman said. At Thursday's informational picket, the solemn-faced pilots donned their Navy blue uniforms and caps, walking in a circle and carrying signs that read, "Pilots get nothing, management gets millions" and "Empty promises for a single airline." "I'm picketing to defend my career, my profession and my family," said pilot Tania Bziukiewicz. "While the company keeps us on these bankruptcy-type wages, they're making multimillions of dollars in compensation packages. That's taking advantage of employees and the situation, and we're here to let them know that we're no longer going to let them do that." US Airways Chairman and Chief Executive Doug Parker's base salary is $550,000 a year plus stock options. In August, he sold more than 270,000 shares of company stock, netting Parker more than $9 million before taxes. Parker was not available for comment Thursday. Airline spokeswoman Andrea Rader said Parker had every right to cash in those stock options. "A significant piece of his income is what we call at-risk income _ that's money that he may get or may not depending on how well the company is performing," she said. "The company, as you can see, is performing quite well since the merger, and so that's where that element of his income comes from. He cashed in some of that, which he is absolutely entitled to do." She said it's understandable some US Airways employees are upset about Parker's stock options. "The careers that they signed on for are very different today than they were 20 or 30 years ago," she said. "There's been a lot of disruption in their pay scales and things. It's completely understandable that people would look at people cashing stock options and say, 'Hey.'" She said the airline will agree to a single contract for all pilots, but that it will just be a matter of time. "As you do contract negotiations, you start with the low-hanging fruit, the stuff that you can reach agreement on quickly," she said. "We're moving into some of the economic issues _ wages, seniority scales. But we're absolutely interested in getting to a timely agreement, as well." Hundreds of other US Airways pilots also planned to picket at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. Prescott resident Lisa Harrs was at Sky Harbor on Thursday for a flight to Chicago on a US Airways plane. She said she had no idea the airline's pilots were dissatisfied. But she said that each pilot deserved a fair contract. "That makes sense," she said. "If they're all part of the same entity, then everyone should be treated equally." In October, US Airways' losses shrank to $78 million, or 88 cents per share, from $99 million, or $5.74 per share, a year ago. Total revenue climbed to $2.97 billion from $929 million last year. Shares of US Airways Group Inc. rose $1.11 to $60.61 in afternoon trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Nov 18 13:50:51 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:50:51 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Boeing could lose in US Airways, Delta deal Message-ID: <20061118085044.R26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 November 2006 ; Arizona Republic Boeing could lose in US Airways, Delta deal http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/1118biz-boeing1118.html --- James Wallace Seattle Post-Intelligencer US Airways' bid this week to take over rival Delta Air Lines could have long-term consequences for Boeing Co. Delta is one of Boeing's best U.S. customers and is expected to eventually order Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner. US Airways is a key North American carrier for Airbus and has already ordered the Airbus A350 that will compete against the Dreamliner. In exchange for that 20-plane deal, Airbus agreed to invest in US Airways. Both the 787 and A350 are twin-aisle jets. "The deal could raise the stakes between Boeing and Airbus for twin-aisle sales as we assumed Delta would be a natural customer for the 787," said Byron Callan of the Prudential Equity Group. Airbus has not yet gotten the OK from its parent, EADS, to go ahead and start development of the A350. Even if that approval is given soon, as expected, it will be at least 2013 or 2014 before the A350 would be ready to enter airline service. Boeing's 787 will begin airline service in 2008, although Boeing does not have delivery positions available until 2013 for new customers because of demand for the jet. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Nov 18 13:52:06 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:52:06 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways: Delta deal won't cut competition Message-ID: <20061118085159.W26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 November 2006 ; The Cincinnati Post US Airways: Delta deal won't cut competition http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061118/BIZ/611180309/100 --- PHOENIX - US Airways Group Inc. on Friday said its proposed buyout of Delta Air Lines Inc. won't hurt competition and shouldn't trigger a regulatory challenge. The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline said in a presentation it made to analysts and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the industry is far more competitive than at the beginning of the decade and that new low-cost carriers like JetBlue Airways Corp. and AirTran Holdings Inc. have joined Southwest Airlines Co. as competitors. The airline said that, even if it succeeds in its $8.7 billion buyout of bankrupt Delta, which it proposed Wednesday, it will control just 18.2 percent of the domestic market after it trims its fleet as part of the merger. Moreover, the airline said it would still face significant competition at most of its hubs and that all but 19 percent of travelers at airports it serves will have low-cost carrier choices. US Airways noted that the U.S. Department of Justice has not challenged a merger in more than 30 years where the combination created less than 30 percent market share. The company also said the takeover was conservatively expected to save $1.65 billion a year in costs, helping it remain cost competitive. That figure assumes it can get approval of the deal before Atlanta-based Delta, which opposes the offer, exits bankruptcy in the first half of 2007. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Nov 19 14:09:08 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 09:09:08 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Editorial: The US Airways offer: Slicksters at work Message-ID: <20061119090858.X26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 19 November 2006 ; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Editorial: The US Airways offer: Slicksters at work http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_480320.html --- US Airways can afford to offer $8 billion for bankrupt Delta Air Lines. This fact ought to give state and local officials pause. Acting like perfect rubes, they've offered US Airways a $16 million-plus package in a bidding war for a new flight operations center. The new carrier would take the Delta name and be the largest airline in the world. Delta management opposes the deal and plans to emerge from bankruptcy next year. But the creditors love it -- seeing a good chance to be paid. Airline-watchers are enamored of US Airways after it followed two bankruptcies with a merger with America West Airlines and has posted profits, a rarity in an industry that suffers from overcapacity. US Airways and Delta overlap in perhaps 50 percent of the routes they serve. The merger would cut 10 percent of capacity for initial annual savings of $1.65 billion. With a federal green light for this, other merger-minded airlines might follow suit. Industry consolidation is a good idea. But consider US Airways' history in Pittsburgh. It bamboozled gullible local politicians into building it a monopoly airport and then years later canceled its master lease and eliminated its hub. And still it seems to entertain, and local yokels offer, subsidy proposals. US Airways has not disavowed a taste for monopoly and slick dealings. Unless it does, its merger plans are suspect. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Nov 20 12:33:42 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:33:42 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways, CEO Parker quiet cynics Message-ID: <20061120073331.F26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 19 November 2006 ; Arizona Republic US Airways, CEO Parker quiet cynics http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1119biz-usairways1119.html --- Dealing with obstacles earns exec, airline respect in industry BY Dawn Gilbertson Doug Parker was thrilled. The Tempe airline he runs had sewn up a major financing package after round-the-clock meetings in New York. Champagne was uncorked. It sounds like the scene leading up to US Airways' brash $8 billion bid for Delta Air Lines last week, right down to the financial backers. But this was nearly five years ago. Parker, the chief executive officer, wasn't trying to create the world's largest airline but fighting to keep tiny America West Airlines afloat. The loans were to stave off bankruptcy after Sept. 11, 2001, and came only after hard-won government guarantees. The Tempe airline, which took the US Airways name when it bought that airline last year, has gone from poster child for government handouts to card-carrying gunslinger. The carrier everyone east of the Mississippi called American West, if they even had heard of it, has grown into an aggressive industry player, with Parker a leading executive at age 45. The US Airways acquisition last year, itself a whopper and an early financial success, instantly put the airline on the national stage. But the spotlight was never brighter than Wednesday, when the Delta bid was launched behind the Atlanta airline's back. No one saw it coming. Parker had said he wouldn't rule out another merger and confirmed that the airline had approached No. 3 Delta, but he had been mum since because bankrupt Delta didn't bite. Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein has said he learned about the hostile offer on the radio. Parker had left him a pre-dawn e-mail and voice mail. In the limelight The public-relations department in Tempe fielded more than 200 requests for executive interviews or information that day, more than in the entire month of July. There was Parker on CNBC touting the virtues of the marriage for investors and passengers. There was US Airways President Scott Kirby on the CBS and ABC evening news talking up the new Delta, as the merged airline would be called. There was the Financial Times of London asking if Parker was flying too close to the sun tackling a deal with so much unfinished business from the US Airways deal. The newspaper concluded that "his lofty ambitions" should not be discounted given his track record. 'Night and day' Ed Shapiro, a veteran airline-industry investor, said the transformation has been dramatic. "It is night and day to look back from where they were at that time (in late 2001) fighting for their life to now being in a much more offensive position. You have to be in awe of that." Shapiro, a partner with Boston investment firm PAR Capital, has had a front-row seat and a big stake in America West's evolution. His firm was a big owner of America West stock over the years and is now US Airways' largest shareholder. PAR was one of the first investors in the America West-US Airways merger, committing $100 million, and has invested an additional $160 million since then. It hasn't sold a share despite a tripling in the stock price. Shapiro, who has a seat on the new US Airways board, and other early investors in the merger have repeatedly said they were betting on the management team more than anything else when they ponied up. America West's tight-knit top executives have worked together for several years and practically complete each other's sentences. Parker is the big-picture, strategic thinker; Kirby, who was recently promoted to president, is the get-it-done detail guy with plenty of his own ideas. Fantasy-league winner Bill Franke, who preceded Parker as chairman and CEO of America West and recruited him to the airline in the mid-1990s, said the executive's risk-taking and innovation stands out in an industry filled with too many people who say, "This is the way we do it because it's always been done that way." Even in his job interview at America West a dozen years ago, Parker impressed Franke with a "grasp well beyond his years" of what needed to be done to help fix the chronically ailing industry. Bernie Han, who held several executive positions with America West before leaving for Northwest Airlines in 2002, said Parker has a grasp of more than airline issues. He recalls him as an ace player in fantasy-league baseball. "He won like three years in a row," said Han, now chief financial officer of a Denver company. Parker hasn't had as much time to devote to his fantasy-league teams since he became CEO, and that's OK with Han and other players. "We're all thankful now because we have a better chance," he said. >From hunted to hunter Talent or not, no one outside the company envisioned the airline formerly known as America West rising to the top tier of the industry, on its own or by gobbling up larger competitors. If anything, it was seen as a buyout target. United attempted to buy America West in 1999 under Franke. Even though it was well on the mend by last year and led the industry's revenue rebound, America West was criticized, even scorned, when it went after sickly US Airways early last year. Few believed America West executives could raise the money for such a deal, and when they did, industry analysts questioned how they could make it work and whether they had the management depth to run a much-larger international airline riddled with trouble on the East Coast. Last week's offer for Delta wasn't universally praised, with concern centering on the work that still looms on the America West-US Airways merger front, from labor negotiations to customer service. Critics and employees questioned Parker's sanity and the company acknowledged as much with this question in the Q&A in a merger newsletter Wednesday: "Are you out of your minds?" 'He can handle it' But given the early profit and surging stock from the US Airways-America West merger, analysts didn't question whether Parker and his team could pull off another one - if it ever comes to that. Delta is still resisting and wants to emerge from bankruptcy on its own. "What he's shown us is that he can handle it," said Michael Roach, a consultant with Roach and Sbarra in San Francisco and the founding president of America West Airlines in the early 1980s. Roach said he was taken aback only by Parker's approach this time around: announcing the offer publicly in hopes it would put pressure on the company to accept it. "He said, 'To hell with Delta, we'll go with the creditors.' " Roach said he thinks US Airways' confidence is well placed, especially since it has financing lined up for the $8 billion-plus cash and stock deal. But if the airline prevails, Roach warned, bigger challenges loom when the new US Airways tries to create the new Delta. "It makes the digestion of US Airways by America West look easy, like an hors d'oeuvre." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Nov 20 12:36:46 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:36:46 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways: New Delta will be 'low-cost maverick' Message-ID: <20061120073631.N26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 20 November 2006 ; ATW US Airways: New Delta will be 'low-cost maverick' http://atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=7114 --- by Aaron Karp Calling itself "a pro-consumer maverick," US Airways moved quickly Friday to head off an antitrust challenge to its proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines, asserting in a government filing that the "New Delta" will offer "consumer-friendly fares" and will not stifle competition in a market in which LCCs play a significant role. Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, meanwhile, reportedly held multiple conference calls with the bankrupt carrier's creditors to argue against the takeover and for Delta's re-emergence from Chapter 11 as a standalone airline. Creditors will play a big role in determining the fate of DL, and both Grinstein and US Chairman and CEO Doug Parker likely will court them aggressively. The merger also could be derailed by US Dept. of Justice antitrust officials (ATWOnline, Nov. 17) [1], who blocked the proposed merger of the former US Airways and United Airlines on grounds that it was anticompetitive and likely would offer consumers diminished service for higher fares. In a filing Friday with the US SEC, US Airways argued that the domestic "airline industry will remain unconcentrated" after the merger and that the rise of LCCs since 2000 ensures robust competition. US said the combined carrier will use the Delta name and would have a domestic market share of 18.2% based on ASMs. "The Dept. of Justice has not challenged a merger in over 30 years where the leading firm has less than a 30% market share," the carrier said in the filing. It added that a projected $1.65 billion in synergies generated by the proposed merger "are real and can be achieved. The expected synergies should overcome any theoretical antitrust concerns about the merger." US also emphasized "rapid LCC growth since 2000," arguing that the US airline market has changed fundamentally since the UA/US merger was rejected. "Today's airline industry is far more competitive than at the start of the decade," US said. "In 2000, LCCs carried only 13% of East Coast traffic vs. 34% in 2006. Since 2000, JetBlue and Frontier have joined Southwest and AirTran as truly national carriers." Even SWA, already firmly established as a major force in 2000, has emerged in the last five years as a transcontinental carrier after formerly avoiding long-haul domestic flights, US said, noting that "today the carrier flies between the East and West coasts from numerous cities...A combined US Airways/Delta will face significant competition at most of the carrier's hubs...After a merger, 81% of US Airways/Delta passengers will have LCC competition at their local airport. An additional 13% will have access to LCC service within 100 miles." US reminded SEC that its management team "began at America West Airlines, which has a history as an industry maverick...Since the merger with US Airways, the airline has continued to be a pro-consumer maverick [by reducing both business and leisure fares]. New Delta would continue to be a low-cost maverick." In a separate but deeply ironic announcement, Delta said it will launch daily New York JFK-Phoenix service on Feb. 15 aboard a 737-800. --- [1] http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=7102 From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Nov 21 02:41:44 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:41:44 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways, Delta Merger Could Cost IBM Millions In Lost Outsourcing Revenue Message-ID: <20061120214133.P26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 20 November 2006 ; Information Week US Airways, Delta Merger Could Cost IBM Millions In Lost Outsourcing Revenue http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=194500352 --- The proposed merger between US Airways and Delta Air Lines could result in the termination of a major IT outsourcing deal that Delta recently signed with IBM. By Paul McDougall The proposed merger between US Airways and Delta Air Lines could result in the termination of a major information technology outsourcing deal that Delta recently signed with IBM, according to a document obtained by InformationWeek. In a letter to Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, dated Sept. 29, US Airways CEO Douglas Parker says that Delta's IT outsourcing contracts "are appropriate for a standalone plan, but that would be different were Delta to be merging." In August, IBM announced that it had secured a seven-year IT infrastructure outsourcing deal from Delta. The value of the deal wasn't disclosed, but it's likely to be worth at least tens of millions of dollars to IBM given the price tag on similarly sized contracts. US Airways' Parker tells Grinstein that if Delta proceeds with IT outsourcing deals and other contracts, any potential merger with US Airways could be significantly devalued. "If we defer a joint investigation of a potential merger, only to find many of the synergies are no longer achievable because of actions taken in support of a standalone plan, your stakeholders could lose significant potential value," says Parker, whose letter was released to Delta shareholders. A spokesman for US Airways says Delta's IT outsourcing deals will be "on a short list" of discussion subjects when US Airways officials next meet with Delta's creditors to push for the merger. IBM officials were not immediately available for comment. US Airways is attempting an $8 billion hostile takeover of its bankrupt rival and says such a deal would result in annual operational savings of $1.65 billion. US Airways says $710 million of that would be realized through expense reductions achieved in part through the consolidation of IT systems. IBM previously has seen significant outsourcing deals scotched by mergers involving corporate customers. Former Bank One CIO Austin Adams terminated a $5 billion outsourcing deal between J.P. Morgan Chase and IBM after Bank One and Chase merged in 2004 and Adams became CIO of the combined companies. In 2003, Sprint tapped IBM Global Services to handle a number of key software development and IT management tasks under a five-year, $400 million deal. However, Sprint has sought to undo much of that deal since its merger last year with Nextel. Sprint also is accusing IBM in court of failing to achieve promised productivity improvements. In August, Delta received bankruptcy court permission to outsource a range of IT services to IBM, including mainframe computer and midrange server management. About 200 Delta technology workers are scheduled to join IBM to help fulfill the deal. If it's not canceled, that is. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Nov 21 02:42:52 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:42:52 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways denies boarding to air marshals Message-ID: <20061120214244.G26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 20 November 2006 ; United Press International US Airways denies boarding to air marshals http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061120-120207-6418r --- WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The government and Republic Airlines are reviewing a recent incident where federal air marshals were prohibited from boarding a plane in Washington. The Federal Air Marshal Service confirms that its agents were removed from US Airways Express Flight 3464 flight leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 8 for Connecticut, The Washington Times reported. After being seated on the plane, the marshals were reportedly called to the jet bridge where a gate agent demanded paperwork intended for off-duty law enforcement agents carrying weapons. The marshals returned to their seats after telling the gate agent they were on mission status and the paperwork was not applicable, the Times said. Minutes later officers from the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority ordered the marshals to exit the plane and even officials at Homeland Security could not persuade the airline to let them reboard. Federal Air Marshal Spokesman Conan Bruce told the Times the agency is working with the owner Republic Airlines, which operates as US Airways Express, to find out what happened. Bruce said the agency was reviewing boarding rules that marshals say vary from airline to airline. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Nov 21 11:46:44 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 06:46:44 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Southwest may want US Airways, Delta assets Message-ID: <20061121064636.C26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 21 November 2006 ; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Southwest may want US Airways, Delta assets http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/briefs/s_480713.html --- Southwest Airlines Co., the biggest low-fare carrier, would consider buying gates, planes and other assets sold in a merger of US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc., CEO Gary Kelly said. Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher called US Airways CEO Doug Parker and Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein to convey the airline's interest, Kelly said. Landing slots at New York's LaGuardia airport might be among the targets, he said. Adding gates in New York, Philadelphia or elsewhere on the East Coast would support the growth plans of Dallas-based Southwest. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 23 15:15:55 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 10:15:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Delta Pilots Oppose US Airways Offer Message-ID: <20061123101544.I26528-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 23 November 2006 ; Houston Chronicle Delta Pilots Oppose US Airways Offer http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4354586.html --- By HARRY R. WEBER AP Business Writer ATLANTA -- Hostile takeovers make strange bedfellows. Case in point: Delta management and its pilots union. The two sides were at each other's throats earlier this year over Delta's ultimately successful effort to wring a second round of hefty pay cuts from pilots and win approval to terminate their pension. But US Airways' $8.9 billion bid to buy Delta has put Delta management and its pilots union on the same side again in opposing the unsolicited offer. The union's support of Delta's standalone plan could give management a boost with the company's creditors' committee in its bankruptcy case. "We have a common threat from outside Delta Air Lines," the chairman of the pilots union's executive committee, Lee Moak, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The union is concerned about further job and benefit cuts if US Airways buys the Atlanta-based company. It also is worried about routes being dropped, and it believes higher ticket prices will result from the deal. Moak told fellow pilots in a memo Tuesday that "should this merger be as misguided and as poor an idea as I currently believe it to be, then I will deploy every available resource to stop it." But can he? "They do have a stake, but probably not enough to block it," Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said of the pilots union. But, Neidl added, "You do want to have the cooperation of the employees" if you are US Airways. The Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association negotiated a $2.1 billion unsecured claim as part of its most recent agreement to accept pay cuts and to not stand in the way of pension termination. The union has a seat on the nine-member creditors committee. Representatives of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., Coca-Cola and Boeing are among other members of the committee. PBGC spokesman Jeffrey Speicher said the federal pension insurer is "not expressing a view" on the US Airways bid. Asked if the agency was confident in Delta's standalone plan, Speicher said, "I can't get into any kind of back and forth on what may or may not be." Dana Bolden, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, declined to comment on the US Airways bid. Coca-Cola also was a creditor in US Airways' first bankruptcy case, Bolden said. Moak said Wednesday in a telephone interview that the pilots union is in contact with other members of Delta's creditors committee. Delta, too, has been speaking to the creditors committee. The airline's chief told employees in a memo Tuesday that was released publicly Wednesday that "you can be sure we will never support a transaction that does not provide for the protection of Delta people." Phil Gee, a spokesman for Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc., said Wednesday his company is not surprised by the stance of the Delta pilots union. "It's something that we anticipated and expected," Gee said. When US Airways announced the offer, it reached out to its pilots union and the national ALPA office, Gee said, adding that when it is appropriate it also will reach out to Delta's pilots union. "We haven't gotten on that path yet because we haven't met with the creditors committee yet," Gee said. "We don't want to tread in places that we're not supposed to tread yet." US Airways chief Doug Parker wrote in a memo to his employees Wednesday that he knows he has some work to do to win over Delta employees. "This is absolutely not about us versus them _ to the contrary, this is about working together," Parker wrote. Delta Air Lines Inc. management and its pilots have come a long way in mending their differences. Earlier this year, the union was threatening a strike over Delta's effort to reject the pilots contract and impose pay cuts. In April, the two sides reached an agreement for $280 million in annual concessions, which was on top of $1 billion in annual concessions the pilots agreed to in a five-year deal in 2004. The pilots also agreed as part of the latest concessions deal not to fight Delta's effort to terminate their pension. There was no strike. The pilots continued flying. And Delta went back to restructuring its business as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of next year. Then US Airways' takeover bid last week shook the street. Moak insists he never took the union and Delta management disagreements personally, and he believes the two sides can work well together now. They may have to if they are going to beat back the US Airways offer, which has gained traction among some Wall Street investors. "As far as the pilots are concerned, we're interested in a long-term viable carrier," Moak said. "Right now, the Delta standalone plan provides that, and that's what we believe." Neidl, the airline analyst, said the people that are ultimately going to determine the fate of Delta are the creditors and the government regulators. He also said Delta's pilots could change their mind and support the US Airways bid. "What they are for today they could be on the opposite side tomorrow based on what they think is best for their situation," Neidl said. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Nov 24 20:14:17 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:14:17 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Muslim clerics taken from US Airways flight charge bias Message-ID: <20061124151405.A2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 November 2006 ; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Muslim clerics taken from US Airways flight charge bias http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06326/740425-84.stm --- By Martiga Lohn The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS -- Six Muslim clerics removed from a US Airways flight yesterday said they were victims of discrimination and called for a boycott of the airline. The imams were removed from a Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight Monday night after three of them said their normal evening prayers in the terminal in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before boarding, said Omar Shahin, president of the North American Imams Federation. They were among 150 imams who attended a federation meeting in Minneapolis. "The police came and took us off the plane in front of all the passengers in a very humiliated way," said Imam Shahin. "I never felt bad in my life like yesterday. It was the worst moment in my life when I see six imams, six leaders in this community, humiliated." They said they were questioned by police and the FBI, detained in a holding cell with loud music and occasionally surrounded by police dogs. The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said in a letter yesterday that it had opened an investigation. US Airways Group Inc. issued a statement saying it was interviewing crew members and ground workers to find out more about what happened. "We are always concerned when passengers are inconvenienced and especially concerned when a situation occurs that causes customers to feel their dignity was compromised," the airline said. "We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind." An airport police report said the flight's captain had already decided he wanted the men off the plane after a passenger passed a flight attendant a note pointing out "Arabic men." Witnesses said the men prayed in the terminal and made critical comments about the Iraq war, according to the police report, and a US Airways manager said three of the men had only one-way tickets and no checked baggage. An airport police officer and a federal air marshal agreed that the combination of circumstances was suspicious, and eventually asked the men to leave the airplane, the police report said. "There were a number of things that gave the flight crew pause," airport spokesman Patrick Hogan said. It wasn't immediately possible to verify whether the passengers who reported suspicious activity witnessed it themselves. But Imam Shahin and Marwan Sadeddin, another of the imams, strongly denied doing anything out of the ordinary. They entered the aircraft individually, except for Imam Sadeddin, who is blind and needed a guide, Imam Shahin said. Once on the plane, the six did not sit together, he said. Imam Shahin said no one asked the six to leave until police arrived, when the group complied. The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 141 passengers and five crew members, were re-screened for boarding. The plane took off about three hours after the men were removed. Yesterday, US Airways refused to honor the group's tickets or allow them to buy new ones, saying their payment for Monday's flight had been refunded. Imam Shahin eventually booked flights on Northwest Airlines -- to Phoenix for five of the imams from the Phoenix-Tempe area and to Los Angeles for the sixth, who is from Bakersfield, Calif. The five Muslim scholars were greeted at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport by chants of "Allahu ar" (God is great) from family and friends. US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader, who came to the airport to see the scholars, said she didn't have much information about what happened in Minneapolis and wasn't prepared to apologize. "I can't say that at this point," she said. "We want to talk to our employees. We want to talk to these customers and let them know we want to do the right thing." Imam Shahin said his days of praying in airports may be over. "It's terrible, unfortunately," he said. "In America, we have no freedom to practice our faith, to do our faith." Imam Shahin expressed frustration that -- despite extensive efforts by him and other Muslim leaders since even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- so many Americans know so little about Islam, which requires prayer five times a day. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Nov 24 20:16:44 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:16:44 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Investing: US Airways-Delta merger may trigger a trend Message-ID: <20061124151606.J2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 November 2006 ; International Herald Tribune Investing: US Airways-Delta merger may trigger a trend http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/24/yourmoney/minvest25.php --- BY Conrad de Aenlle The bid by US Airways to acquire Delta Air Lines benefited investors throughout the airline sector - except for Delta shareholders. Shares of US Airways and other major carriers leaped when the bid was announced, but Delta's plunged after a small initial rally. Delta is making its way through bankruptcy reorganization. Its creditors are first in line to receive the $8 billion-plus in stock and cash pledged by US Airways, which explains the about-face in Delta stock and a nearly 50 percent gain in the price of its unsecured debt. The increase in US Airways stock is a bet that the carrier will realize the $1.65 billion that the company expects in savings from eliminating routes that overlap those flown by Delta. US Airways won a reputation for frugality after its 2005 merger with America West produced savings far greater than had been forecast. Brian Nelson, an analyst at Morningstar, seems less impressed than the throng of buyers in US Airways stock. He estimated its fair value at $20 a share, well below its closing price Thursday of $62.95 and suggested that management was less adept at shaving expenses than others might think. "US Airways has done a commendable job extracting costs from the combined entity," Nelson wrote in a research note, referring to the America West merger. Nevertheless, he added, "The carrier remains saddled with an elevated cost structure and severely strained labor relations." The estimate of savings from a combination with Delta may have been nudged up by wishful thinking. Robert Gallo, managing director of MergeGlobal, a consulting firm specializing in transportation, warned that savings achieved by cutting the number of flights, rather than through efficiencies achieved across an expanding route system, often fall short of their goal. In fact, they may disappear altogether. "The trick in this business has always been: If you shrink the network, can you drop operating expenses faster than you drop revenue?" Gallo said. "People make a living trying to do that, but it's very, very difficult." Gallo, who spent six years at US Airways in the 1990s, praised the company's management, especially the way it executed the many mergers that made it one of the largest U.S. carriers. Still, he maintains that $1.65 billion is a lot to save for two airlines with a combined $28 billion in operating costs. Wall Street's high hopes were not restricted to US Airways; an index of airline stocks rose 6 percent on Nov. 15, the day the merger was proposed. Investors are betting that if the deal goes through, it will prod rivals to seek mergers of their own, reducing the supply of seats and allowing airlines to raise fares. That may happen even without further deals. Michael Linenberg, who follows airlines for Merrill Lynch, calculates that an anticipated 10 percent reduction in Delta and US Airways routes would trim the sector's gain in capacity next year to 1.3 percent from 3.4 percent. "Such capacity rationalization certainly bodes well for the rest of the industry as it results in stronger pricing power," Linenberg wrote in a report issued the day after the bid was disclosed. Linenberg liked the announcement enough to raise share price targets 17 percent or more on US Airways; AMR, parent of American Airlines; Continental, and Alaska Air. He has "buy" ratings on all of them. Airlines already have benefited greatly from increased traffic and an ability to raise fares in their fifth year of recovery after the 2001 recession and terrorist attacks. But that improvement has not gone unnoticed on Wall Street. Many airline stocks have risen fivefold, tenfold or more since the trough after 2001. If you looked only at the stock charts, you would assume that airlines are raking in enormous profits, yet despite sharp growth in air travel and fares, the industry ran at a loss until recently. Net profits are expected this year and next, but a recession, terrorism or renewed labor strife could change that forecast overnight. Investors are pricing in a lot of good news for an industry where the news often ranges from bad to less bad, or worse if the Delta deal and others do not go through. In fact, Gallo interprets the rally not so much as an expression of hope for an overhaul but as a vote of no confidence in the status quo. "Carriers have been able to chop up their furniture for firewood," he said. "You have to think the movement of stock prices is based on a perception that it's beyond the ability of individual carriers to manage their businesses more effectively." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Nov 26 14:54:23 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 09:54:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Delta, pilots union fight hostile takeover Message-ID: <20061126095328.O2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 26 November 2006 ; Miami Herald Delta, pilots union fight hostile takeover http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16085992.htm --- Delta's management and its pilots union have mended fences in order to fight US Airways' unsolicited $8.9 billion offer. BY HARRY R. WEBER Associated Press ATLANTA - Hostile takeovers make strange bedfellows. Case in point: Delta management and its pilots union. The two sides were at each other's throats earlier this year over Delta's ultimately successful effort to wring a second round of hefty pay cuts from pilots and win approval to terminate their pension. US Airways' unsolicited $8.9 billion offer to buy Delta has put management and the pilots union back on the same side. The union's support of Delta's stand-alone plan could give management a boost with the company's creditors committee in its bankruptcy case. "A COMMON THREAT" "We have a common threat from outside Delta Air Lines," the chairman of the pilots union's executive committee, Lee Moak said. The union is concerned about further job and benefit cuts if US Airways buys the Atlanta-based company. It also is worried about routes being dropped, and it believes higher ticket prices will result from the deal. Moak told fellow pilots in a memo Tuesday that "should this merger be as misguided and as poor an idea as I currently believe it to be, then I will deploy every available resource to stop it." But can he? "They do have a stake but probably not enough to block it," Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said of the pilots union. But, Neidl added, "You do want to have the cooperation of the employees" if you are US Airways. The Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association has a seat on the nine-member creditors committee. Moak said that the pilots union is in contact with other members of Delta's creditors committee. Delta, too, has been speaking to the committee. Phil Gee, a spokesman for Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group, said Wednesday his company is not surprised by the stance of the Delta pilots union. MENDED FENCES Delta's management and its pilots have come a long way in mending their differences. Earlier this year, the union was threatening a strike over Delta's effort to reject the pilots contract and impose pay cuts. In April, the two sides reached an agreement for $280 million in annual concessions, which was on top of $1 billion in annual concessions the pilots agreed to in a five-year deal in 2004. The pilots also agreed as part of the latest concessions deal not to fight Delta's effort to terminate their pension. There was no strike. The pilots continued flying. Delta went back to restructuring its business as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Then US Airways' takeover bid last week shook the street. Moak says the union and Delta management can work well together now. They may have to if they are going to beat back the US Airways offer, which has gained traction among some Wall Street investors. "As far as the pilots are concerned, we're interested in a long-term viable carrier," Moak said. "Right now, the Delta stand-alone plan provides that, and that's what we believe." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Nov 26 14:59:16 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 09:59:16 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways bid for Delta takeover is a daring move Message-ID: <20061126095640.E2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 26 November 2006 ; Salt Lake Tribune US Airways bid for Delta takeover is a daring move http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4721875 --- The suitor was itself on the edge of liquidation before America West absorbed it and revived it a scant two years ago By Dave Hirschman Cox News Service US Airways' bid to take over Delta Air Lines is a stunning move for a newly revived carrier that came within an eyelash of liquidation two years ago. Even in the passenger airline industry, where jarring reversals of fortune are commonplace, the US Airways transformation from deathbed to potentially the world's largest passenger carrier is remarkable for its speed, daring and historical sweep. Previous combinations have sought to link different but complementary airline networks and fleets. This one aims to pare overlapping routes, trim capacity by 10 percent - particularly in hyper-competitive East Coast markets - and use Chapter 11 to hammer costs. Such an acquisition would have been unthinkable before the terrorist attacks of 2001, recession and last year's fuel price spikes led to ruinous airline losses. Delta, traditionally the bluest of airline blue chips with the industry's strongest balance sheet, fell into Chapter 11 last year and lost control of its own destiny. Instead of being directed by shareholders, decisions about Delta's future hinge on creditors and a bankruptcy court judge in New York. The blueprint for the Delta takeover attempt comes straight from America West's successful acquisition of US Airways last year. Plagued by chronic losses, labor strife and poor customer service, US Airways resorted to Chapter 11 in 2003 and 2005, and came close to liquidation. America West, a low-cost, regional carrier based in Tempe, Ariz., stepped in at the 11th hour and took the novel step of purchasing US Airways in Chapter 11. Under court protection, US Airways slashed employee pay and benefits, canceled pensions, tore up leases and slashed costs. When it emerged, the combined airlines flew under the better-known US Airways banner. America West, the first U.S. carrier to seek a federal bailout after 9/11, said last year it was desperate to make the US Airways purchase because it was hemmed in by larger, more powerful carriers like Southwest and Chicago-based United. United was cutting its own costs in bankruptcy court, and once America West lost its price advantage, larger rivals could force it out of business. Today's US Airways is America West in all but name. US Airways' former headquarters in Arlington, Va., has been cleared out, and America West managers hold most of the company's top positions. The combined carrier defied industry precedent by making one strong carrier from two weak ones. US Airways has posted consistent and improving profits since emerging from bankruptcy court protection, and its stock price has more than doubled. US Airways officials hoped the Delta acquisition would follow a similar script - but Delta wants to remain independent, and managers have signaled they intend to fight the merger. But their fate is largely in the hands of others. The U.S. Justice Department, which consistently opposed large airline mergers in the 1980s and 1990s because they diminished competition, may be less likely to resist now that airlines have been devastated by years of deep losses and consumer fares have fallen in the last 20 years in inflation-adjusted terms. Robert Mann, an aviation consultant, said US Airways could satisfy the concerns of regulators by giving up a few routes and gates at airports in Boston, New York and Washington. But Michael Boyd, a Colorado airline consultant who represents small cities in air service issues, disagreed, saying regulators will reject the takeover as anti-competitive. "Look at the route maps," he said. "It's a huge overlap." The unsolicited takeover attempt was engineered by Doug Parker, 45, the youthful, outwardly laid-back US Airways chairman and chief executive who joined America West in 1995 and spearheaded the US Airways takeover. The new US Airways quickly abandoned its Arlington, Va., headquarters, and industry experts say they expect a reinvented Delta would be based in Tempe, a Phoenix suburb. Also unclear was the fate of connecting hubs in Charlotte, long US Airways' biggest East Coast hub. Parker said the combined airline would continue to fly out of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, consistently among the world's busiest passenger airports with five parallel runways, European and Latin American connections and hundreds of millions of dollars in planned upgrades. A US Airways takeover would, for the first time, put nearly all of Hartsfield's scheduled passenger flights in the hands of absentee owners. AirTran, a distant second to Delta in daily passenger flights, is based in Orlando; ASA is owned by Salt Lake City-based SkyWest; and Delta subsidiary Comair is headquartered in Hebron, Ky. US Airways had apparently been considering a takeover attempt of either Delta or Northwest, both in Chapter 11, for months. The two carriers filed for bankruptcy court protection on the same September day last year - and the US Airways management team has proven it can use Chapter 11 to slash costs and overhaul routes while preserving its own stock value and keeping control from courts and creditors. The reorganizations "present an opportunity that may not exist for a long, long time," US Airways CEO Parker said in a June interview. "We can't ignore it. It's too big a deal, and it may not come around again." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Sun Nov 26 15:00:51 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:00:51 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Delta asks for frequent-fliers' support Message-ID: <20061126095918.S2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 26 November 2006 ; Philadelphia Business Journal Delta asks for frequent-fliers' support http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2006/11/20/daily30.html --- Delta Air Lines Inc. is appealing to its frequent fliers to support its intent to file its own Chapter 11 reorganization plan, versus a merger with US Airways. The airline, in a letter to its 4 million SkyMiles members, reviewed the enhancements that it has made since filing for bankruptcy in September 2005, including adding more than 70 international destinations and upgrading its cabins, food and entertainment options. Delta has said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy during the first half of next year. The letter, signed by Executive Vice President Lee Macenczak, also addressed what it called US Airways Group Inc.'s "unsolicited merger proposal," saying the proposed deal would be evaluated, but that Delta (Pink Sheets:DALRQ) doesn't consider it to be in its stakeholders' best interest. "We are moving full steam ahead with our own plan to emerge from Chapter 11 as a strong, independent, stand-alone airline dedicated to providing you with world-class service and superior performance," the letter stated. US Airways (NYSE:LCC) is making a bid for Atlanta-based Delta. The merger proposal, which would take effect after Delta emerges from bankruptcy, would provide $8 billion of value in cash and stock to the company's unsecured creditors. US Airways, the dominant carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, is based in Tempe, Ariz. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:09:47 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:09:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways to give workers $50 bonus Message-ID: <20061129180938.X2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 29 November 2006 ; Business Week US Airways to give workers $50 bonus http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LLMDJ01.htm --- TEMPE, Ariz. -- US Airways Group Inc. said Monday it will distribute $1.8 million to its employees in a special one-time $50 bonus as a reward for their performance over the busy Thanksgiving holiday period. The airline said almost 79 percent of its flights arrived within 14 minutes of schedule during the five-day crush between Wednesday and Sunday. Performance was worst on Wednesday, when only 37 percent of flights were on time. On Sunday, on-time performance was 71 percent. US Airways said it completed 99.6 percent of its scheduled flights during the period and reported an average of 6.02 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. "This exceptional performance was accomplished even with a very high load factor that averaged 80 percent over the five day period and the normal winter weather patterns that can cause disruption across the system," President Scott Kirby said in a statement. US Airways shares fell $3.79, or 6 percent, to close at $59.16 on the New York Stock Exchange on a down day for airlines overall. The stock regained $1.82, or 3.1 percent, to $60.98 in aftermarket trading. Shares have ranged between $28.30 and $63.27 over the past year. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:10:54 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:10:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Union denied access to records on US Airways bid Message-ID: <20061129181048.P2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 28 November 2006 ; Arizona Republic Union denied access to records on US Airways bid http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1128biz-comair1128.html --- NEW YORK - A bankruptcy judge quashed subpoenas by a pilots union seeking documents related to a takeover bid for Delta Air Lines Inc. Judge Adlai Hardin said he didn't see how the bid, made by US Airways Group Inc. for Delta, could be factored into the motion to alter the labor contract governing about 1,500 pilots working for Comair, a Delta subsidiary. A lawyer for the Air Line Pilots Association had argued that the US Airways bid shows further labor concessions are unnecessary. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:12:14 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:12:14 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Cabin pressure dip sends US Airways plane here Message-ID: <20061129181207.P2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 28 November 2006 ; Arizona Daily Star Cabin pressure dip sends US Airways plane here http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/157995 --- A US Airways plane made an emergency landing at Tucson International Airport on Monday afternoon because of falling pressure in the cabin, officials said. None of the 124 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, said Morgan Durrant, an airline spokesman. Oxygen masks were not used during the flight into Tucson. Flight 272 was on its way to Houston when the pilot noticed an issue with cabin pressure shortly after taking off from Phoenix at 3:50 p.m. He asked for the plane to be redirected to Tucson, where the Boeing 737-300 landed safely at 4:58 p.m., Durrant said. After the technical problem was fixed, the aircraft continued on to Houston, he said. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:13:59 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:13:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Delta creditors have "open mind" on US Airways bid Message-ID: <20061129181345.X2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 28 November 2006 ; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Delta creditors have "open mind" on US Airways bid http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/delta/stories/2006/11/28/1128bizdelta.html --- By RUSSELL GRANTHAM Delta Air Lines' would-be acquirer, US Airways, is expected to make its case for a merger to the Atlanta carrier's bankruptcy creditors and management team this week, according to a lawyer for the court-appointed creditor committee. It will be the first time that the two rivals' managers and representatives of Delta's creditors have met since US Airways stunned Atlanta and the airline industry by going public with an $8.6 billion bid two weeks ago. "US Airways wants an opportunity to explain the bona fides of this proposal," Daniel Golden, attorney for Delta's committee of unsecured creditors, said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "We're happy to listen to it." No immediate decisions are expected. Golden said executives from both carriers and their advisers plan to meet in New York with the committee's representatives and advisors. Golden declined to say what day the meeting will occur, and spokespeople at Delta and US Airways declined to talk about the meeting. Delta management opposes a merger. But under bankruptcy law, executives have a legal and financial obligation to creditors to hear and evaluate US Airways' offer, said Golden. Similarly, he said the creditors committee has an obligation to choose whatever restructuring plan -- a suitor's or management's -- will likely repay the largest portion of creditors' claims. Members of the committee come to the proposals with a wide range of agendas. They range from jetmaker Boeing, which may weigh the effect of a merger on future orders, to holders of Delta bonds who may want to cash out to the highest bidder. It's unclear what kind of reception US Airways will get. Delta management rebuffed US Airways overtures -- with the creditors committee's knowledge -- before the Phoenix-based airline took its takeover effort public. US Airways is run by former top executives at America West Airlines, which acquired US Airways as it was coming out of bankruptcy and adopted the name. They propose taking Delta's name in a merger, though they have not said whether the headquarters would remain in Atlanta or move to Phoenix. Delta's executives say the proposal is likely to run into serious antitrust challenges and bring higher fares to customers and more job cuts for the combined airlines. Management expects to file a restructuring plan for a standalone Delta next month. Executives at US Airways counter that they will be able to create a more valuable company by combining the two airlines. They expect to win regulators' approval by cutting some operations and say the merger will result in lower fares. They say job cuts will come through attrition rather than layoffs. Tuesday, Golden said he expects US Airway's merger proposal to get a fair hearing from creditors and Delta management. "We're going there with a totally open mind," he said. "I'm confident that at the end the day, the committee and Delta management will see eye-to-eye." US Airways is seeking Delta's approval to begin the so-called "due diligence" process, in which the bigger airline's internal financial records and operations would be opened to US Airways' inspection. However, people familiar with the process said members of the creditors commitee and Delta's board of directors won't be at the meeting, and that both groups will spend some time evaluating proposals. Golden said no immediate decisions are likely. Meanwhile, Delta is already raising its concerns about the deal in informal discussions this week with the Department of Justice, according to a person familiar with the matter. The agency could scuttle the deal if it decides that a merger between the third- and seventh-largest carriers will reduce competition in too many markets. US Airways met with DOJ officials a few days after announcing its bid. DOJ spokeswoman Gina Talamona declined to discuss the meetings. "It's an ongoing investigation and I won't be able to talk about it," she said. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:16:09 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:16:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways Expected to Present Merger Offer for Delta This Week Message-ID: <20061129181558.B2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 29 November 2006 ; New York Times US Airways Expected to Present Merger Offer for Delta This Week http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/business/29delta.html?ref=business --- By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED US Airways will formally present its $8 billion merger offer for Delta Air Lines to Delta and its official unsecured creditors committee sometime this week, according to a person involved in the discussions. The meeting will be the first time the two airlines have met to discuss the bid since US Airways announced its offer on Nov. 15. Spokeswomen from Delta and US Airways declined to comment. Winning the support of creditors is crucial because Delta is operating under bankruptcy protection and any plan to emerge from bankruptcy must be approved by them. US Airways has repeatedly contacted Delta about a merger, but Delta has rebuffed those approaches. Delta's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, has said that Delta would prefer to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings as a stand-alone carrier. In a statement responding to US Airways' offer, he repeated that Delta has the exclusive right to submit a reorganization plan until Feb. 15. A Delta spokeswoman said yesterday that the airline planned to present its official restructuring plan toward the end of next month. Given Delta's resistance, US Airways has sought to appeal to the creditors. Daniel H. Golden, a lawyer representing the creditors committee, has previously said that the committee will "seriously consider the US Airways proposal, perform due diligence of that proposal and any other proposal that may be forthcoming." He did not return calls yesterday, but news services quoted him as saying that the committee would meet with the airlines this week. Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and other credit holders, meanwhile, have sought to create their own bondholders committee. So far, according to a person at a company involved in the talks, that group has conducted a conference call seeking to assemble a steering committee. It has not taken a firm stance on the US Airways proposal, the person said. Delta's bonds have surged in recent weeks in anticipation of a merger. Its 8.3 percent notes maturing in 2029 traded at $58.80 yesterday, up from $38.76 before the US Airways offer was disclosed, although down from $63 on Friday. A merger between US Airways and Delta would create the world's largest airline, overtaking American Airlines. Yet US Airways, the No. 5 domestic airline, faces a number of significant hurdles in its quest, including antitrust concerns. And US Airways continues to face opposition to the deal from its branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, which staged a protest on Nov. 16. A representative from the association said that the group still had grievances about compensation. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:18:12 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:18:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] Delta-US Airways merger could hike fares Message-ID: <20061129181805.C2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 29 November 2006 ; Business First of Louisville Delta-US Airways merger could hike fares http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2006/11/27/daily5.html --- The proposed merger between US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. could spell bad news for business travelers and tourists by putting upward pressure on air fares and creating hassles for frequent-flyer programs and reservation systems, according to economists and airline industry analysts. The main concern is that the merger between Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways (NYSE: LCC) and Atlanta-based Delta (Pink Sheets: DALRQ) could push fares higher in markets where the two carriers dominate and where they do not face competition from discount flyers. Where there is competition from low-cost carriers, such as Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), fares might not rise because of competitive pressure, analysts say. But overall, US Airways' takeover bid of Delta would put upward pressure on fares. Delta, US Airways and Southwest all service Louisville International Airport. The proposed merger would create the largest airline in the United States, with more than $27 billion in annual revenue, 82,000 employees and a swamp of overlapping airports and other operations. US Airways made its proposal public earlier this month, but so far Delta has said it does not plan to consider the deal. Economists and industry experts pointed out that airlines need higher fares to survive bottom-line pressures, tight operating margins and high fuel costs. "In the long term, air fares must go up for the airline industry to remain -- or should I say, become -- viable," said Andrew Inkpen, professor of global strategy and an airline industry expert at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz. "Even Southwest had to raise prices this year. Although customers will complain, higher prices are necessary for the industry to become and stay profitable," he said. US Airways officials stress their $8 billion bid for Delta will be good for the airline sector and competition because it will create a healthy, profitable carrier. The merger must be approved by shareholders, the U.S. Department of Justice and Delta's bankruptcy judge and creditors. Delta is expected to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization next year. America West Airlines merged with US Airways in 2005, and those two carriers still are combining operations and trying to work out new labor agreements. Inkpen said consumers also should look for delays and problems if the merger goes through when it comes to melding reservations systems and frequent-flyer programs. "All travelers on Delta, America West and US Airways should be wary of promises such as, 'Don't worry, we will have the reservations systems merged by such-and-such a date,' " Inkpen said. "Whatever they promise, add six months to a year. The same goes for frequent-flyer programs. It will be very chaotic for a while, despite the inevitable promises." From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Nov 29 23:20:47 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:20:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] A troubled 2007 for US Airways and Delta Message-ID: <20061129182036.E2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 29 November 2006 ; Travel Daily News A troubled 2007 for US Airways and Delta http://www.traveldailynews.com/new.asp?newid=33954&subcategory_id=96 --- f US Airways can convince stockholders, creditors and legislators of the worth of their $9 billion bid for Delta, they will create a global airline business forecast to carry 128 million passengers next year and with a share of the total USmarket of over 15%. The convincing will not be easy and especially so now that there is a Democrat influence on the administration which is likely to incline more towards employee and consumer protection. That will be combined with the traditional Anti-Trust reluctance to countenance larger airline groupings. The 15% share, while providing some critical mass and permitting further cost cutting, will not immediately lend itself to the avowed intentions of creating a substantial international business from what is a grouping of domestic operators. Next year the new Delta grouping will have no more than 9% share of the USA's international flights; American should be the largest player amongst the US airlines with 13% but American is thought to be looking at acquisition plans of its own. Chart [1]: US Airlines Business in 2007 Releasing Greater Merger Potential for 2008 Approval for Delta and US Airways could give rise to real merger possibilities between firstly American and Northwest and secondly between United and Continental and if all of these plans were to be realised then the shape of the business in 2008 would be radically different. The 2008 market share forecast shows four groups with a combined 60% of all scheduled and unscheduled traffic and a market share spread of between 13 and 17% points which, even if the regulators were to acquiesce, would make them exceptionally difficult and expensive targets for European companies. The Europeans have long bemoaned the protection afforded to their transatlantic rivals and they will, in the future, be better protected if bigger alliances let them cut costs, routes and unprofitable passenger segments. The extent of the passenger cull is already highly significant. In the first eight months of this year, Delta has seen its domestic scheduled passengers fall by 20% and it is by no means clear that an endpoint has been reached. Thus bigger groups will effectively trade unprofitable market share for a lower overhead and, in Delta's case, an escape from bankruptcy. The 128 million passenger forecast for New Delta next year should translate into 125 million in 2008. --- [1] http://www.traveldailynews.gr/photos/Usairl1.jpg From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 30 12:24:34 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:24:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways be praised for safety Message-ID: <20061130072427.K2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 30 November 2006 ; Boston Herald US Airways be praised for safety http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=169765 --- By Michael Graham So tell me, my politically correct friends, what would you do? You're waiting to board an airplane and you spot six bearded Muslims - imams, as it turns out - in the concourse waiting to board with you. Three of them are praying loudly, shouting "Allah! Allah!" when you and your fellow passengers are called for boarding. You, being a good liberal, think nothing of it. According to the Washington Times, "Passengers and flight attendants told law enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." One air marshal told the Times: "They [the imams] now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane. That would alarm me." But not you. You're no bigot. You're no profiler. So what if three notably non-obese imams asked for seat belt extenders? So what if, despite being told there were no available seats in first class when asked for an upgrade, two of the imams were found sitting there when they were removed from the plane? No matter. You're with Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, who called removing the imams an act of racism and Islamophobia. Alas, I'm not as "open-minded" as you. I will stick with the "Islamophobes" and wait for the next flight. How much sympathy do I have for idiot imams in the post-9/11 world who feel the need to shout "Allah!" at the top of their lungs while boarding an airplane? Slightly less than I feel for the drunken Yankees fan who wanders onto Yawkey Way screaming "The Red Sox can kiss my . . ." It requires a level of political correctness that borders on mental illness to find the imams' behavior benign. Their actions were so openly provocative that Ann Coulter suggests this all might be a publicity stunt by US Airways to get Muslims to boycott just in time for Christmas. She may be onto something. It's hard to imagine a more appealing slogan than "We're the airline angry Muslims refuse to fly!" But after reading the Washington Times' coverage of the unnecessary and unsettling behavior of the imams (who had just attended a "fight the power!" imam convention), I think it's more likely this was a lawsuit set-up. Now come the usual threats of boycotts, lawsuits, blah, blah, blah. Angry liberals demand that Muslims acting weird at airports should be treated the same way as Methodists (as if you could actually get a Methodist to pray aloud in public). Yes, it's a shame that rational people must view Muslims as inherently more dangerous than non-Muslims. But do even the most liberal among us find it unreasonable for leaders of the only major world religion with an ongoing terrorism problem to pay a price for the shameful state of their faith? After all, these imams weren't attending a conference on "How To Rescue Islam From Radicals." No, it was yet another gathering of Muslims, whining about their victimhood. Well, how about a little outrage over the hundreds of thousands of non-Muslims being slaughtered in Darfur by Muslim warriors? Or Sudan's Muslim government refusing to admit U.N. peacekeepers? But being offended by these events would involve being offended by Muslims. And as US Airways is learning, being offended by the actions of Muslims, however provocative or idiotic, is simply not allowed. Michael Graham is a talk show host on WTKK-FM, 96.9. From usairways at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Nov 30 12:25:45 2006 From: usairways at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily US Airways News) Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:25:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: [US Airways] US Airways execs to face Delta officials, creditors today Message-ID: <20061130072539.W2973-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 30 November 2006 ; Charlotte Observer US Airways execs to face Delta officials, creditors today http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/16127743.htm --- Meeting is first since takeover bid launched By STEVE HARRISON NEW YORK CITY -- US Airways executives will sit face-to-face with Delta management and its creditors today in New York City -- their first meeting since US Airways launched its hostile takeover bid two weeks ago. To create the nation's biggest airline, US Airways wants to buy the much-larger Delta, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker will try to convince Delta management that a merger would be beneficial for Delta employees and shareholders. He's also lobbying Delta's creditors to support the proposal, which is worth $4 billion in cash and about $4.4 billion in stock. Delta management has said it opposes a merger, and some Delta employees are rallying around the company, wearing pins that say "Keep Delta My Delta." Most Delta creditors, such as Boeing and Coca-Cola, haven't spoken about the proposal, though some smaller creditors have reportedly discussed forming a group to lobby Delta to seriously consider the deal. Delta has until Feb. 15 to submit its plan for exiting bankruptcy, though the airline has said it intends to file a plan before the end of the year. For the Atlanta-based airline to fend off US Airways, its unsecured creditors must back its plan. US Airways execs were in Charlotte on Tuesday to build support. President Scott Kirby said Charlotte would be the new Delta's third-largest hub after Atlanta and Philadelphia. Some analysts are skeptical Charlotte would remain a large hub because Delta's major hub is in Atlanta, less than 45 minutes flying time from Charlotte.