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US Airways President Scott Kirby says that US Airways is likely to merge with either American, United(and Continental), or Delta. Which one of these airlines would most likely benefit travel, US AIrways hubs, US Airways as a whole, and would benefit the airline that it would merge with?
I live in Charlotte, where US Air has its biggest hub. 90% of airline flights in and out of here are on US Air or its regional subs, so there's usually not much choice if you want a direct flight anywhere from here. I avoid them when I can (for example, I take JetBlue to Boston), but usually it's either them or a layover somewhere. In terms of the passengers' travel experience, I can assure you that US Air doesn't bring anything to the table. They will nickel and dime you to death for the most basic of things, and in-flight entertainment is non-existent except on intercontinental flights (and then they'll charge you for headphones that you're never going to use again). Most legacy airlines don't score well in customer satisfaction, though, so a merger with one really wouldn't help the travel experience at all. Alaska, Southwest, and JetBlue are much better in that regard.
There are a couple of bright spots, though. They've gotten pretty good about not losing bags, which makes the checked bag fees somewhat stomachable. Also, if you book well in advance, flights along the east coast are pretty reasonable. It's not uncommon to pay under $100 each way; for example, in January I flew round-trip to Providence for $150 when booking in November. Granted, it was Rhode Island in January, but you can't say the same about westbound flights.
All that's to say they've managed to create economies of scale on the east coast, which would be beneficial to both sides if they merged with a carrier that has a stronger focus on the western US (American or United-Continental). Delta, on the other hand, already has a strong east coast presence with hubs in New York and Atlanta, so they have little need for US Air's hubs in Philly and Charlotte. If Delta and US Air merged, I would imagine that it would be to use their combined assets to help the larger (Delta) run new routes, rather than to complement what's already in place. Delta can get that from anybody, and US Air would be crucified for selling out at the expense of their east coast hubs.
Regardless of which one they merged with, someone's hub is going to get hurt. Besides Charlotte and Philly, US Air also has one in Phoenix. United-Continental has them in Denver, LA, San Francisco, and Houston, among others. American also has one in LA, as well as Dallas and JFK, again among others. If they merged with United-Continental, at least one of the western hubs would get the axe, because there's no need to have five of them in the southwestern quarter of the country. American would probably be a better fit in that regard; Phoenix and possibly Philly would get dinged, but they wouldn't see a huge withdrawal like Pittsburgh and Raleigh did a few years back.
Long story short, Delta is the least likely, and I'd put United as having a slight edge over American thanks to the codeshare agreement (read: familiarity with each other). Also, the only region they wouldn't have a hub in would be the PNW, but they could remedy that fairly easily if they so chose. Some kind of agreement with Alaska could also help with that, but that's a problem for another day and I've already written too much.
Last edited by bushpilotwannabe; 07-16-2011 at 01:00 PM..
Delta just acquired Northwest so another takeover/merger is unlikely. The same would apply to the merger between United and Continental. A merger is a massive undertaking and tackling back-to-back mergers would be damaging. In my opinion that leaves American which will want to keep pace with Delta and United.
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Isn't US Airways located in Atlanta? It seems like Delta would be the obvious choice then. If that's the case, how many of their hubs are they actually going to keep (Delta's legacy hubs, Northwest's old hubs, and now US Airways hubs)? No airline needs 10+ hubs!
All I know about Airlines, is that I will never, willingly, fly Delta Airlines. (Because of their apparent anti-antisemitism)
Delta’s only agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines is a standard industry agreement, which allows passengers to book tickets on multiple carriers, similar to the agreements other US legacy carriers have with Saudi Arabian Airlines.
All of the three global airline alliances – Star, which includes United Airlines; oneworld, which includes American Airlines, and SkyTeam, which includes Delta – have members that fly to Saudi Arabia and are subject to that country’s rules governing entry.
I use to fly with Delta and still have many Jewish friends that are still flying (attendants), it is not what you think.
Nobody wants to merge with US Airways. They only attractive part of their operation would be Charlotte. Their pilot group is a mess. And to be honest, American is a mess too, its cost structure too high. It may be a while before we see any viable mergers in the future.
Isn't US Airways located in Atlanta? It seems like Delta would be the obvious choice then. If that's the case, how many of their hubs are they actually going to keep (Delta's legacy hubs, Northwest's old hubs, and now US Airways hubs)? No airline needs 10+ hubs!
I think US Airways is based in Phoenix. I think it use to be America West.
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