America Airlines Vice President for Flight John Hale wrote a memo yesterday to CEO Tom Horton and other leaders, questioning the ability of potential suitor US Airways Group to orchestrate a successful takeover.
The pilots expect a hostile bid from US Airways and "have very serious concerns" about such a tie-up, "I'm confident pilots will continue to be very skeptical about US Airways' ability to integrate separate workforces or grow the combined company," he wrote. "The phrase 'all hat and no cattle' comes to mind. There's little indication from anyone I've spoken to that a takeover by US would produce greater opportunity for our pilots than American's business plan."
This is the first time that anyone at AA has discussed any interest from outside parties and is planned to put the brakes on any US Airways ambitions.
US Airways has confirmed hiring advisers to study a merger with American while saying it learned the value of courting stakeholders such as unions after its hostile bid to buy Delta Air Lines collapsed in 2007. Delta's pilots, the airline's only major unionized work group, helped derail US Airways' plans.
The Allied Pilots Association, which represents more than 8,000 pilots at AA, declined to comment because the union hasn't received an official copy of the memo, spokesman Howie Schack said.
American itself is at odds with pilots and other workers after it asked the Bankruptcy Court to let it replace union contracts with new agreements that would cut labour costs by $1.25 billion a year but it seems it can still rally their support against any takeover.
AA management have looked at the Delta takeover collapse and struck at the same issue yesterday to put a stop to any more takeover talk fast. IAG and Japan Airlines will be pleased…
