American Airlines and US Airways are working together on an integration plan presently under the direction of US Airways’ Robert Isom and American Airlines’ Beverly Goulet.  The timeline for consummating the deal is still some time in the 3rd quarter and that appears on track as the US Bankrtupcy Judge (Sean Lane) has now signed the papers approving the merger.

The next big leap will be governmental approval of the merger which almost all expect to be pro forma at this point.

Will the airline sing with one voice upon the merger completion?  No, that will take a while.  After the deal closing, the next big milestone will be a single operating certificate and that will take a while to get.  The two airlines have a pretty divergent fleet and harmonizing procedures and ensuring pilots from what are essentially 3 different groups are able to move forward as a single airline will take some time.

This merger integration will take a while and measuring it on speediness would be a mistake.  It’s important to get things done in a timely manner, it’s even more important to get the decisions made correctly.

Many of the decisions that must be made are the kind that could impact an airline for a decade or more.  Reservations systems stick with airlines for multiple decades, airplanes are a 20+ year asset and employees with institutional knowledge shouldn’t be driven away.

It will take time.

Filed under: Mergers and Bankruptcy by ajax
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