United, Continental to merge

[RedHot25]

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/0...al-merger.html

World's largest airline will have revenue of about $29B

United and Continental Airlines are forming the world's largest airline in a deal worth about $3 billion US, the companies announced Monday.

The new airline will exceed Delta Air Lines in size and have flights reaching from Shanghai to South America. The United name will live on, although the planes will have the Continental colours and logo.

The airline will be run by current Continental CEO Jeffery Smisek. United CEO Glenn Tilton, a longtime advocate of consolidation in the airline industry, will be chairman for up to two years while Smisek prepares to take over as chairman after that.

[BlackEleven]

Since United is already part of the Star Alliance, hopefully Continental will be too now. Continuing to Rack up points on Air Canada and being able to use them on more routes would be nice.

[getbak]

Continental joined Star Alliance a while ago, probably as a precursor to this.

Weird that it'll have United's name but Continental's logo and colours: http://www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com

[Cactus Jack]

Great, they can exchange tips on how to give garbarge service.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Great, they can exchange tips on how to give garbarge service.

Now you'll get twice the crappy service.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

So does this mean they'll stop breaking guitars, or simply move onto breaking more of the band's instruments like drums as well?

[dre]

http://www.prlog.org/10658485-contin...ion-offer.html

"After UAL Corporation reportedly agreed to take over Continental Airlines, Inc. an investigation on behalf of current investors in Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:CAL) concerning shareholder claims over possible breaches of fiduciary duty was announced."

[Canada 02]

will be interesting see if this gets thru regulators, and also how the unions impact this proposed merger

[Jimmy Stang]

I flew recently with United (trans-Pacific, no less). People like to knock the service from Air Canada in this country, but they have clearly never flown on United.

And... while I'm complaining, is an in-flight entertainment system on a 13 hour flight too much to ask? Air Canada has had them for nearly a decade now...

[Ice]

United is terrible. It is totally unpredictable to travel with them because they seem to cancel flights so frequently. Continental used to have a really bad reputation for losing luggage but I think that's not a big problem now. I've avoided using both of these carriers for now and have had really pleasant experiences with the flights I've taken.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by getbak

Weird that it'll have United's name but Continental's logo and colours: http://www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com

That's a good choice actually since Continental had the nicer looking livery while United's scheme was totally stuck in the 80s.

[redforever]

You know, in the last 2 or 3 years, it has been my experience that air travel has improved tremendously. My flights within that time frame have been on time almost to the minute, and that includes United. No cancelled flights, no lost luggage, all has gone well.

United did charge $20 for the first piece of luggage last time we flew with them though, around 8 months ago. Not sure if they have amended that policy or not.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by redforever

United did charge $20 for the first piece of luggage last time we flew with them though, around 8 months ago. Not sure if they have amended that policy or not.

Yes they did.

It's $25 now

[tripin_billie]

Originally Posted by Wookie

Yes they did.

It's $25 now

Which is why, when given the chance, I like to fly Southwest.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

will be interesting see if this gets thru regulators, and also how the unions impact this proposed merger

They likely have at least preliminary anti-trust approval at this point and I would assume that the unions have been involved to a certain extent. When you get to the point of announcing like this most of the hurdles have been cleared, although things can still fall apart.

As for the fiduciary duty claim above, that happens in a pretty high percentage of mergers. Success is pretty unlikely with where the bar for judging the actions of the board has been set.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by redforever

You know, in the last 2 or 3 years, it has been my experience that air travel has improved tremendously. My flights within that time frame have been on time almost to the minute, and that includes United. No cancelled flights, no lost luggage, all has gone well.

United did charge $20 for the first piece of luggage last time we flew with them though, around 8 months ago. Not sure if they have amended that policy or not.

I think the airlines have started to overestimate flight times so that they appear to be arriving on time or early. Not a bad idea if it keeps a positive public perception.

For example Chicago to St louis on United is a 1 hour 15 minute scheduled flight. I've flow that route in 55-60 minutes in normal weather conditions; 65-75 minutes in bad weather. 90% of the time, they likely do that flight in an hour, but if they say 60 minute scheduled flight time, they would be late 10% when the weather is bad. Tell passengers the flight is 75 minutes, then be early 90% of the time

[Jimmy Stang]

Timely article regarding extra fees and how much they are bringing in for the airlines:

United and Continental, which on Monday announced plans to combine to form the world's biggest airline, were sixth and seventh among carriers in fees collected. United took in $619.5 million in fees, Continental $539.7 million.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/201...line-fees.html

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I think the airlines have started to overestimate flight times so that they appear to be arriving on time or early. Not a bad idea if it keeps a positive public perception.

For example Chicago to St louis on United is a 1 hour 15 minute scheduled flight. I've flow that route in 55-60 minutes in normal weather conditions; 65-75 minutes in bad weather. 90% of the time, they likely do that flight in an hour, but if they say 60 minute scheduled flight time, they would be late 10% when the weather is bad. Tell passengers the flight is 75 minutes, then be early 90% of the time

That's a brilliant strategy. 90% of passengers would never know the difference. They just accept the given flight time and they can chalk it up to weather, differnet planes, weight, fuel, etc. and only actual pilots or real frequent flyers would know. Then why they actually hit the real flight-time, they announce it as "we're lucky today! we're going to be early!".

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

That's a brilliant strategy. 90% of passengers would never know the difference. They just accept the given flight time and they can chalk it up to weather, differnet planes, weight, fuel, etc. and only actual pilots or real frequent flyers would know. Then why they actually hit the real flight-time, they announce it as "we're lucky today! we're going to be early!".

I have suspected that's what the airlines have been doing for a while. Classic marketing : under-promise and over-deliver. Beats the opposite every time, even if the end result is identical.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Wookie

Yes they did.

It's $25 now

That fee drives me crazy. I flew with United this weekend and crammed everything into a carry-on to avoid paying them. The thing I can't stand on this though is that the airline industry continually presses for more items that you aren't able to carry-on and that need to be in checked baggage...only to charge you for the privilege of standing around waiting for the checked luggage!

I end up flying with United at least once a year if not more often. All of the US carriers seem to suck about equally though. I've never been on a SW flight, but I assume they are more like WestJet?