Real News or Fake?

[sun_set_bravely]

Sadly, this isn't from The Onion. I found it on WCBS880.com this morning.

The New "Axis of Evil"
US Airways Accuses Competitors Of Plotting Its Destruction

Sep 18, 2002 9:23 am US/Eastern
(CBS)-(ARLINGTON, Va.)-The president of US Airways accused Delta Air Lines of anticompetitive behavior Tuesday, criticizing an alliance Delta is pursuing with two other major carriers.

"Delta's strategy is built on one basic element: US Airways' failure," the company's president, David Siegel, said in reference to Delta's proposed code-share agreement with Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

Siegel referred to the proposed Continental-Delta-Northwest partnership as the "Axis of Evil" and called Delta Chairman Leo Mullin "Dr. Evil."

Under the proposed partnership, the airlines plan to sell seats on each other's flights and coordinate schedules and frequent-flier benefits under a "code-share" agreement. The term comes from the practice of putting an airline's two-letter industry code onto another's flights.

The proposal, which still must be approved by federal regulators and pilots' unions, is not a merger. All three airlines remain competitors in pricing and scheduling.

Siegel, who is trying to reorganize US Airways in bankruptcy court, delivered his unusually blunt speech to the International Aviation Club of Washington. His comments were an apparent response to previous statements made by Mullin, who said he would pursue "an armada" of products and subsidiaries to combat a similarly proposed alliance between US Airways and United Airlines.

A Delta spokeswoman denied the three-way alliance being proposed aims to put US Airways out of business.

US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy Aug. 11 and has made numerous changes in recent months to get its cost structure in line. Seven of its nine union locals have agreed to wage cuts totaling about $619 million a year; the remaining locals concluded voting Tuesday evening on proposals for an additional $221 million in cuts.

One of the two unions, the Communication Workers of America, ratified its concession package by a 3-to-1 ratio. The deal calls for an 8 percent pay cut, dropping the top rate for its 8,000 passenger service employees to $20.05 an hour. Employees making less than $30,00 a year are exempt from the deal. The amended contract will save the airline $70 million a year.

The last remaining union local, the 6,600 mechanics represented by the International Association of Machinists, was expected to announce its results late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The union rejected the same deal last month by a 57-43 margin, but decided to vote again.

Union officials said some members were unclear about the consequences of a no vote.

If the union rejects the concessions, it's possible that a bankruptcy judge will invalidate the entire collective bargaining agreement, and the airline could impose its own pay schedule and work rules.

Union leadership offered workers no recommendation on the proposal.

US Airways has eliminated hundreds of flights on unprofitable routes, greatly expanded the use of smaller, cheaper regional jets and proposed a code-sharing agreement with United Airlines, which allows the two carriers to sell tickets on each other's flights.

The Delta alliance would be 50 percent larger than the US Airways alliance and would constitute 40 percent of all domestic air traffic, Siegel said. In addition, he said, the Delta alliance is anticompetitive because it includes more overlapping routes.

The United-US Airways alliance would feature complementary routes, combining US Airways' strength in north-south flights on the East Coast with United's strength in cross-country flights.

Delta spokeswoman Catherine Stengel acknowledged that the proposed Delta alliance is in part a response to the US Airways alliance. But she said the company is not trying to put US Airways out of business.

"US Airways is clearly a competitor on key markets such as the East Coast," she said. "We welcome all healthy competition."

The two airlines compete in several markets, particularly the lucrative, LaGuardia Airport based, shuttle service between Washington, Boston and New York.

The Justice Department is reviewing both proposals. Siegel said he is confident that the US Airways-United alliance will receive approval in the near future. Last year, the Justice Department rejected a full-scale merger between the two airlines.

(© 2002 Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Comments

[microbie.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should give them all mudpies and let them fight it out for themselves?

Big ol' Jet Air-LINAH! Don't carry me too far away.

[gmoneyjonesiii.livejournal.com]

Here's my favorite part:

Siegel referred to the proposed Continental-Delta-Northwest partnership as the "Axis of Evil" and called Delta Chairman Leo Mullin "Dr. Evil."

"Gentlemen, I will be happy to seal this agreement with Continental and Northwest for...one million dollars." (extends pinkie to corner of mouth)

Delta was pretty much the only airline I knew of that wasn't filing for bankruptcy of late. From Amtrak to the airlines...perhaps it makes a tiny bit more sense now why I choose to drive everywhere? Seriously, what is up with the mass transportation organizations in this country? Why is it that Europe can make it work, and we seem to keep foundering, to the point that only anti-trust violations can produce a solid, reliable company? (Probable answer: that love-it-hate-it concept called "deregulation"). Mostly, what is Leo Mullin a doctor of? Can you go study evil at a major university? (Probable answer: Northwestern.)

These, and many more questions, will be answered IF...The Price Is Right®!

(By the way, rock and roll on the "This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed" tip. Down with copyright! Although maybe this is the reason the airlines are falling apart, hmm? Copyright violators like YOU! ;) )

Re: Big ol' Jet Air-LINAH! Don't carry me too far away.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the reason I posted it was mostly for the "Axis of Evil" bit. I should have cut the rest of the article out, as I actually didn't even read it. I'm such an irresponsible LJ poster sometimes.

And I didn't even notice the copyright bit! Too funny! I'm brazen, I tell ya, brazen.

One simple reason that I think might be at the root of much of the U.S.'s mass transit woes is the amount of land to cover. European countries are simply much closer to each other, and smaller in themselves, than the U.S. is. I would imagine that this causes lots of troubles.