American Airlines and US Airways will official merge and become the world’s biggest airline after the boards of both companies approved the deal late Wednesday.
The carrier will keep the American Airlines name but will be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker. American Airline’s CEO Tom Horton will serve as chairman of the new company until mid-2014, these people said.
The merger caps a turbulent period of bankruptcies and consolidation that will leave the U.S. airline industry dominated by 4 big carriers — American, United, Delta and Southwest. The 4 will NOW control 75% of ALL U-S Travel! Damn Damn Damn!
Frequent flyer miles: There’s not much to worry about here. Frequent flyer miles and statuses will be merged and, once the merger is complete, there should be even more route combinations available to use them.
Routes: Domestically, US Airways currently has hubs in Philadelphia, Charlotte and Phoenix, which will connect with American Airline’s hubs in Dallas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Miami. More routes means more destinations for travelers to choose from, and also more options for rerouting flights if one gets cancelled or delayed.
Airline fees: American Airlines ranked as the worst offender for charging the highest travel fees, but don’t expect huge fee changes to come with the deal. That’s the good news. The bad news is that with more airline consolidation in recent years, that means passengers have fewer other airlines to choose from in order to avoid fees if they want.
Airfare costs may rise: The merger could bring slightly higher rates for flyers on the nonstop routes that both American and U.S. Airways flew. The reason? Since they’re now allied, the airlines will no longer be competing to offer the lowest rates and lure in passengers. Unfortunately, that could mean HIGHER fares, though it’s worth noting there are still plenty of other major airlines in the sky to compete with.
BOTTOMSCOOP: the only downside you will see is less competition, (and) slightly higher fares.
via BlackMediaScoop
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