DALLAS –– American Airlines' parent company AMR and US Airways voted late Wednesday afternoon to approve a merger, which would create the world's largest airline.
Sources tell News 8 the official announcement will happen at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday. Another will follow later in the day in Phoenix.
The new carrier will retain the Fort Worth-based American Airlines name and headquarters will stay in Tarrant County, just south of D/FW Airport. But the Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways name and brand will eventually disappear.
Sources tell News 8 that US Airways CEO Doug Parker will lead the new airline. He has actively lobbied for the combination for 14 months.
AMR CEO Tom Horton’s role in the new airline, if any, was immediately uncertain. Last week, News 8 reported that Horton was being considered for a ceremonial position on the new board of directors such as non-executive chairman. But Horton, who remains unpopular with American’s own labor unions, had been lobbying his board for a more prominent role in the new airline.
Doug Parker, 51, once worked at American Airlines. He held a number of financial management positions at American from 1986 until 1991, according to his US Airways biography.
But his executive star began to rise in 2005 when, as CEO of America West Airlines, he successfully purchased a bankrupt US Airways and moved its headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina to Tempe, Arizona.
"Under Parker's leadership, the airline has achieved record revenue growth, operational performance and profit margins that have outpaced most industry peers," the bio added.
Parker, a married father of three, tried unsuccessfully to purchase Delta Airlines when it was reorganizing under bankruptcy protection in 2006. Using lessons learned from the failed Delta deal, he approached Horton in 2011 about a possible deal.
For months, though, Horton and American insisted they were only interested in emerging from bankruptcy as a standalone carrier.
But American's labor unions, which have long had a deep level of mistrust for American management, began to lobby hard for a merger with US Airways. Parker agreed to deals with American’s Allied Pilots Association, Association of Professional Flight Attendants and Transport Workers Union which would help them transition to a new contract if the airlines combined.
The Allied Pilots Association, specifically, negotiated $87 million in improvements per year for its pilots –– mainly in increased pay and retirement contributions, along with training pay and per diem.
Craptastic
Sources tell News 8 the official announcement will happen at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday. Another will follow later in the day in Phoenix.
The new carrier will retain the Fort Worth-based American Airlines name and headquarters will stay in Tarrant County, just south of D/FW Airport. But the Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways name and brand will eventually disappear.
Sources tell News 8 that US Airways CEO Doug Parker will lead the new airline. He has actively lobbied for the combination for 14 months.
AMR CEO Tom Horton’s role in the new airline, if any, was immediately uncertain. Last week, News 8 reported that Horton was being considered for a ceremonial position on the new board of directors such as non-executive chairman. But Horton, who remains unpopular with American’s own labor unions, had been lobbying his board for a more prominent role in the new airline.
Doug Parker, 51, once worked at American Airlines. He held a number of financial management positions at American from 1986 until 1991, according to his US Airways biography.
But his executive star began to rise in 2005 when, as CEO of America West Airlines, he successfully purchased a bankrupt US Airways and moved its headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina to Tempe, Arizona.
"Under Parker's leadership, the airline has achieved record revenue growth, operational performance and profit margins that have outpaced most industry peers," the bio added.
Parker, a married father of three, tried unsuccessfully to purchase Delta Airlines when it was reorganizing under bankruptcy protection in 2006. Using lessons learned from the failed Delta deal, he approached Horton in 2011 about a possible deal.
For months, though, Horton and American insisted they were only interested in emerging from bankruptcy as a standalone carrier.
But American's labor unions, which have long had a deep level of mistrust for American management, began to lobby hard for a merger with US Airways. Parker agreed to deals with American’s Allied Pilots Association, Association of Professional Flight Attendants and Transport Workers Union which would help them transition to a new contract if the airlines combined.
The Allied Pilots Association, specifically, negotiated $87 million in improvements per year for its pilots –– mainly in increased pay and retirement contributions, along with training pay and per diem.
Craptastic
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