There is a rumour that Sun Country Airlines may be in play for being purchased / merged with another airline.  Candidates suggested are Delta, Airtran and Southwest Airlines.

Delta?  Never gonna happen.  They don’t need Sun Country and they don’t need the regulatory headaches that a Sun Country purchase offers.

Airtran?  Kind of doubt it.  Airtran has been avoiding direct competition with legacies lately and they’ve got that area of the country covered with their operations in Milwaukee.  In addition, Aitran isn’t a 737-800 operator and doens’t need that headache at present.

Southwest?  Now that’s a marriage.  One that I suggested at the New Year in this post.  Mind you, I don’t think it will be for the weekly flights to London.  The fleet is compatible and despite concerns over it being entire leased, it’s a good fit and allows SWA to start 737-800 ops just that much sooner and on routes that are that much more lucrative. 

It also offers MSP gates and more opportunities to fly more places.  In fact, it offers just the right kind of opportunities:  international flying.  Southwest Airlines recognizes that international flying is something that they need to consider.  However, it involves an area of expertise that just isn’t at SWA and within their business model.

Sun Country offers that ready-made expertise and to a variety of destinations.  With that experience, SWA suddenly has the ability to go to Mexico and Canada which are already a part of its codeshare work (and where is that codeshare with Volaris, by the way?).  But the experience in the backend, reservations, visas, handling foreign currency, etc. is all offered with a Sun Country purchase. 

It’s a ready made solution for growth but it has one risk. Union agreements.  And Sun Country has a lof of employees who feel that Sun Country was never given an unfettered opportunity to grow.  Whether that’s true or not, it’s an obstacle.  If SWA can convince its unions to offer senior merging on a date of hire basis, it might work.  If SWA’s unions insist on a purchase being “stapled” to the back of the seniority list, it’s unlikely it will work.

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