AZ Travels the World

There have been a flood of comments, on both the US and DL FlyerTalk boards about the hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines that US Airways has launched. Perhaps because we’ve been so caught up in elections and polls this election month, the moderators of the US Airways forum decided we’d take a poll.

What do you think? Vote above.

jimcfsus

How about option d: It's not going to happen.

janeway

Or which airline mergers would actually make sense?

Or whether this is just a "ploy" (albeit an expensive and time-consuming one) to set merger wheels in motion/damage a competitor?

uva185

There are alot of unknowns in this merger that have me a little worried, like changing alliances or changing hubs (I love using CLT). However Delta is a nice airline, if Parker doesn't destory Delta it would be nice to use thier fleet (wide-body transcon service). Something is telling me he WOULD change too much in a bad way.

OnMedic

I like that as a second poll.... "If you had a say, what airline do you feel would be a good match for DL?"

PSU Mudder

US and NW would have made a ton of sense. NW is everywhere US isn't, and vice versa.

DLBIZTRAVELER

No chance that this will happen. U S Air is trying to "steal" a much better air line, and cheaply. Watch the bankruptcy officials and then the stockholders after emerging from bankruptcy spurn this offer totally and completely. Might DL take over someone else-would NOT choose U S Air - better fit would be Northwest - with their Pacific strength complementing Delta's Atlantic prowess. The U S Air offer is absurd!

vysean

I voted yes, it would be a good thing. But I think it is better for HP/US flyers than Delta flyers. I would hope US wouldn't change much of the current Delta system - while I haven't flown them in two years, it has always been a consistently good to great experience.

As PSU Mudder mentions, I don't understand why they made this offer when NW is IMO clearly the more logical merger partner. Fleet similarities (excepting DC9/10 and 747), complementary route structures (hello Asia/India), and the fact that they're still in (or recently out of) BK should mean they'd be an ideal candidate for merger/buy-out by US.

So I'm wondering if the offer for DL was simply a somkescreen to pursue something with NW? And yes, I realize that it is illegal to make such an offer without intent to buy - but if you know there is 0% chance of your offer being accepted, it's not very risky. So now they've got the funding, they've got the publicity, once (if) DL turns them down, why not go for NW?

If DL happens, I'll love the ability to get to South America. I really hope the combined US/DL stays in *A, 'cause I don't think SkyTeam is nearly as strong.

In any case, another merger hopefully won't be as big of a mess as the US/HP one has been (at least in terms of integration issues). I would love a US/NW or US/DL merger, but I think the LCC model is inherently and deeply flawed from a customer value perspective (higher fares, lower, inconsistent service = what kind of benefit to the customer?).

Sean

Sokol

I worry a bit. I am afraid this merger will result in higher fares. I also very much concern if they switch alliances. I have to stay with StarAllience; that means that if new airline (whatever is called) switches to Skyteam, I will have to switch too. I e-mailed my concern to US Air; it might help.

mikey110890

When Delta emerges they will be a much better stand alone. Better in many ways that investors look look at. This is just not going to happen, all this business will die down once the money looks at the options.

kinglobjaw

I'm hoping this won't happen for now. I'd hate to loose the US Airways name and livery as well as PIT(even as a focus city gone) as well as the downsizing of PHL and CLT. I would hate to see all this bad stuff happen. Let US be US should be our own motto. I would be happy to see NW consumed though. Makes much more sense. US' Asia market is introduced while we can steadily expand from PHL. And I'm sure people wouldn't mind PHL-MSP going to mainline. With a US/NW little would get downsized as there is almost no overlap. US is Europe and Carribean while NW is Asia/Pacific and a the USA West Coast is a little bit of NW and little bit of US. And with NW we would have a true midwestern hub.

monitor

This would be quite a bonanza for me for then all of my eggs could be put into one basket. Right now I fly US about 2 to 1 over DL and if they merged, I could be uber PM or CP and not worry about going to PHL or CLT for international flights. The only sticking point for me would be that the combined carrier would likely leave the *A and I would miss the award flights on LH and SQ that are (comparatively) so easy to get with Dividend Miles.

No matter what those who doubt the possibilities of merger are saying, Parker has now put DL in play and there is likely to be some consolidation or merger within the next year or so. Who does it and what will shake out is still to be determined, but Parker's offer will serve to put the taste of some money into the mouths and hopes of most of the DL shareholders and IMO Gerry will have a helluva time explaining any deal other than some sort of buyout to them.

ClipperDelta

Delta Air Lines. Period.

US AIRWAYS FAN

Sorry but my bet is that this merger will not happen. I am not even worried about it.

KevAZ

I agree with you 900%

And I haven't flown "Smelt Ya" in years because of my extremely poor experience with them. The US deal for this HP Plat was almost enough to put me back on WN, but I've hung tough and it's been OK so far. "Smellt Ya" would definitely chase me away. Being based in PHX, WN is the only realistic alternative. UA goes to some locations, but they don't have the network xPHX that I need, and their ridiculous TED is a rotten copy of WN.

I am not worrying about the "Smellt Ya" deal, the bidding will place this out of reach of US.