NEWS: America West Merger Murmurs

Way back in February America West CEO Doug Parker made it known he saw mergers coming up for several airlines. It goes without saying that CEO's don't normally make those kind of statements unless they have something on their mind. Mr. Parker made his feelings on mergers even clearer when he was quoted on April 20 saying "We believe consolidation is inevitable. We intend to look aggressively at transactions as they arise."
So the merger rumors between America West and US Airways should not surprise anyone. But the questions about a possible merger abound.

Historically airlines mergers are drawn out costly affairs. Does America West really want to take this on? And what is America West after anyway? They don't need all the capacity that US Airways has...some yes, but not all. They certainly don't want to absorb a large portion of their ever-so-happy work force. So it comes down to route structure, facilities and maybe some aircraft. Seems to me America West is just trying to be first in line for all of US Airways' "stuff". Seems to me that this merger would be tantamount to a liquidation for US Airways.