US Airways makes $8B bid for Delta

ATLANTA – US Airways made a hostile $8 billion bid for Delta Air Lines on Wednesday, despite Delta’s repeated statements it isn’t interested in a merger. The move could start a stampede of competing bids in a long-predicted industry consolidation.

The offer, however, faces many obstacles, and analysts questioned whether the deal to create what could be the nation’s largest carrier can be completed on US Airways’ compacted timeline. Delta, which said it would review the proposal but was pushing ahead with its goal to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone company, has yet to file its own plan of reorganization, and it has the exclusive right to do so by Feb. 15.

“My main question mark is if the politicians and regulators would allow it to happen, because if it did it would probably set off a trend for industry consolidation,” Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said of a Delta-US Airways combination.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said late Wednesday that she had received a “strong commitment” from US Airways that its proposed merger with Delta would not affect air service in Maine. The two airlines are major carriers at Bangor International Airport.

BIA Director Rebecca Hupp said that although it was premature to make predictions, the proposed merger would limit competition in the Bangor market because there would be four airlines instead of five serving Bangor.

At present, no carrier has more than 30 percent market share in Bangor. The proposed merger would result in US Air serving more than 50 percent of BIA passengers.

The offer comes as US Airways and America West are still integrating their operations after their combination last year. To date, only 57 percent of America West planes have been painted over with US Airways’ logos, a spokesman said.

The deal also could cause some headaches for labor groups, said aviation consultant Robert W. Mann.

“There will be a huge seniority integration problem that will result. It’s already problematic after the US Airways-America West merger. This will only increase it fourfold,” Mann said.

The offer to buy Delta once the Atlanta-based airline emerges from bankruptcy protection by the middle of 2007 would give Delta’s unsecured creditors $4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock.

As it stands now, Delta’s common shares are likely to end up worthless when it exits bankruptcy. In most bankruptcy cases, debtholders end up with new shares of the company.

If the deal is completed, the combined airline would operate under the Delta name and serve more than 350 destinations across five continents. US Airways has not decided where the combined company would be based. The combined company would divest certain assets, including a shuttle that operates in the Northeast. US Airways also said it would optimize flights at its hubs, but did not say what further impacts the hubs could face.

Shares of US Airways Group Inc. rose $6.67, or 13.1 percent, to $57.60 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Delta Air Lines Inc. shares are traded over the counter.

Doug Parker, chief executive of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, said in an interview he is aware of the comments made by Delta’s management in recent months, but he believes this is a fair offer and that ultimately Delta’s creditors will see that.

“The [bankruptcy] process is designed so that the creditors get the highest possible value for their clients,” Parker said. “Given that process, what we have done is gone public with an alternative to a standalone plan.”

The deal would be subject to regulatory, creditor, US Airways shareholder and court approval.

BDN reporter Toni-Lynn Robbins contributed to this story.