Too many airlines? Too many flights?
Merger plan does little to quell fears
By Matthew Barakat
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 21, 2005
McLEAN, Va. – Bankrupt US Airways may have saved itself by agreeing to merge with America West Airlines, but the deal does little to address what many in the industry believe is a fundamental problem: too many carriers offering too many flights.
When US Airways Group Inc. made its second trip into bankruptcy in September, some competitors hoped and many experts believed the airline would never emerge, allowing competitors to pick the bones from the carcass of the nation's seventh-largest airline.
Southwest Airlines Inc., for instance, made no secret of its desire for some of US Airways' gates at its Philadelphia hub, where the two airlines compete directly. Other airlines eyed US Airways' slots at airports in New York, Washington and Boston and some of its profitable Caribbean routes, but nobody wanted to acquire the dysfunctional airline as a whole.
Now, even though many in the industry believe the collapse of a carrier like US Airways would be the best remedy for excess capacity, the planned merger with America West calls for just a slight trim of the US Airways fleet.
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