A US Airways offer to merge with American Airlines is not guaranteed forever, says US Airways chief executive Doug Parker today during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington DC.
"US Airways is here now and ready to get this done and there is no guarantee that will be the case forever," he says. "The best course is a merger during bankruptcy."
Fort Worth, Texas-based American announced that it would begin to evaluate merger options with US Airways, as well as with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and Virgin America, last week. It maintains that, if it merges, it would prefer a deal after it completes the bankruptcy process.
Parker says that a merged carrier would retain the American name and be based in Fort Worth. It would be part of the Oneworld alliance, he adds.
US Airways is based in Tempe, Arizona, and is part of the Star Alliance.
The merged airline would also retain both carriers' existing orders for new aircraft, says Parker.
American has orders for Airbus A320 and A320neo family aircraft, and Boeing 737s, 787s and 777s. US Airways has orders for A320 family, A330 and A350 aircraft.
The merged airline would also seek to reduce the number of 50-seat regional jets operated by its regional carriers, adds Parker.
He expects movement on the merger following a vote by American's pilots on a tentative contract, which is scheduled to conclude in early August, and after the evaluation of merger options by American management, its board and the unsecured creditors committee.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
