COMMENT - Mergers and Acquisitions

I know that mergers and acquisitions are all part and parcel of the airline business but I am wondering who might be next. With Continental and United finalising their merger and the Southwest take-over of Air Tran, not forgetting British Airways and Iberia or even TAM and Lan Chile.

Every niche of the industry is dynamic and is subject to change, sometimes very quickly.  Legacy and Low Cost carriers are fighting to survive, yes it appears we are coming out of a tough time.  It is good that in the main passenger numbers are up, revenues and margins however small appear to be up too.

We might not be back to the good times but I am optimistic about the future.  The new byeword might be merge to survive.  For me, it was sad to see Northwest disappear in the Delta Air Lines take-over.  But times move on, no doubt in the next few years a number of other classic carriers might disappear into history but that is the way of the airline industry.  Then again airlines are created everyday by entrepreneurs. The next new airline might become a really big success story and become the biggest airline in the world.  You never know.

Terry Spruce, Guest Editor

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