JUST-IN: American Airlines and US Airways Announce Merger

I am not here to argue who was better, but if you look at your past, Continental went bankrupt two times, and in 2008, Continental cut 3000 jobs, reduced salaries, and retired many aircraft. Your employees were screwed with those moves.

I can see where United made mistakes. I used to serve filet mignon dinners, complete with appetizers and desserts on short flights... such as, to and from Chicago to Newark to first class customers. That was ridiculous. Millions of dollars was wasted on food. Half the people didn't even eat, and food was tossed. Economy passengers were also served a hot meal. That was the way United operated.

On flights to and from EWR to LAX or SFO, we had shrimp cocktail for appetizers, carved roasts, filet mignon, etc. If we had 10 empty seats in first class...that was 10 wasted meals. In fact, on the transcontinental flights, all customers, whether first class, or economy, were served two hot meals...at no cost. Today, first class gets very little, and economy pays for cold food.

One time, I spent a layover with Southwest pilots and flight attendants in LAX. They could not believe that we served FOOD on our flights. They served peanuts. It was then that I realized why Southwest was doing so well financially....at least where the cost of food was concerned. They also were paid less than our pilots and flight attendants. As a flight attendant, I retired making $45 an hour, plus I was paid well for meals on layovers. On a Tokyo layover, I would get about $400.00 per trip (32 hour layover) whether I ate or not.

Also, apparently you are not familiar with the old United employee benefits either. Everyone, including retirees, had 24 companion passes per year. All companions paid for their seats (reduced fare), and of course, we all flew standby, as it is today. Today, because of Continental's rules, there are no more companion passes, so they are losing money because seats that companions paid for are empty. I do get to choose two "friends or relatives" who fly like I do...all free, but I still think we should get companion passes.

Not sure when you will retire, but you will see what I mean.

We still get 24 buddy passes a year, to give to anybody we want.

AMERICAN, US AIRWAYS ANNOUNCE $11 BILLION MERGER

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and US Airways say they have agreed to merge in an $11 billion deal to create the world's biggest airline.

The combined carrier will be called American Airlines but run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker.

The boards of the two airlines unanimously approved the deal late Wednesday, and the companies announced the agreement Thursday.

The merger would reduce the number of major U.S. airlines to four: the new American, United, Delta and Southwest.


[link to bigstory.ap.org]

I worked for continental for some time now, we had to do things our way, the old united way is what made your company bankrupt. ESOP anyone?