(This Aircomplane.com blog entry originally posted on December 13, 2006.)
We know that our Aircomplane.com™ readers are a pretty well-read and sophisticated audience, so we won’t pretend for a second that we in any way “broke” the story surrounding the potential mergers, takeovers or other high-flying drama taking place within the airline industry. But we know you are all busy (ironically) sitting in an airport somewhere, so we will give you a rundown based on news reports as of this morning:
- Of the six major airlines now in operation (and many needing one), three may soon be gone.
- Consider the US Airways bid for Delta last month.
- UAL, United’s parent (think more the Osbournes rather than the Cleavers) was in talks with Continental Airlines.
- And even the “discount” airlines are getting in on the action with AirTran’s reported hostile bid for its competitor, Midwest Express.
Now, if any of you happen to have one or more of those airlines on your credit card statements, travel itinerary or worse, frequent flyer cards in your wallet, you may want to start thinking about how to protect yourselves.
What’s fascinating about all of this is that with the general oligolopolistic control so few have over airline travel, one would think they would be better at extorting profits from the public and ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY. If Enron taught us anything, it’s thatsomeone is.
Anyway, as your Aircomplane.com Spite Crew, we are here to help you, not [ahem] speculate wildly. So here is what we suggest:
If you are a shareholder or have a history, relationship, flyer miles, or any other connection to a specific airline involved in this latest drama, go to the websites of the airlines that might be affected. We’ll make that easy for you. They are here:
- USAirways www.usairways.com
- Delta www.delta.com
- Link to November 17, 2006 SEC FilingWe had to plug “USAirways” into the Delta search box to find this.
- Delta does offer this section on its restructuring and bankruptcy
- United www.united.com
- Continental www.continental.com
- AirTran www.airtran.com
- Link to Press Room with Midwest press releases
- Link to Investor Relations page with webcast on Midwest and names and contact information for your questions
- Airtran’s SEC filing for Midwest Please see the 12.13.06 filing. It includes this old chestnut (Or since it’s an airline, perhaps it’s a peanut). “The combination of AirTran Airways and Midwest Airlines would create a truly national low cost airline with pro- forma revenue of approximately $3.0 billion in 2007. AirTran believes that both companies would benefit from this merger by building greater scale, efficiencies and growth opportunities to better succeed in the face of an increasingly competitive airline environment.”
- Midwest Express www.midwestairlines.com
-Here’s the letter from Midwest Chairman, CEO, and President Timothy E. Hoeksema, to Airtran’s Chairman & CEO Joseph P. Leonard. It’s called “Midwest Air Group Confirms Receipt of Unsolicited, Highly Conditional Expression of Interest”
o SEC filings page Also see 12.13.06 filing
Keep an eye on their “news” and customer pages, and don’t hesitate to check in with their press offices. Look for how they are going to address the issues that concern you. Yes, much of this may be preliminary, but you have a vested interest. Show it! Demand to be kept informed about your “assets” and interests – including frequent flyer miles. You can Google search here from our Aircomplane.com home page and monitor such terms as “airline mergers,” and “airline takeovers.” Use the Google “News Alert” feature to be notified when something on these airlines hits the Internet (which is what we use).
And, please feel free to POST your concerns here onAircomplane.com™ . If you don’t see a main posting concerning your topic or question, just e-mail us, and we’ll put it up for you. We’ve made it easier to do so with the links on the right as well. Chances are many of you are asking the same questions and have the same concerns. You are the reason thatAircomplane.com™ exists.
