It would be foolish to deny that the merger that created the new American Airlines has been a success so far. All it takes is a quick glance at the numbers. American’s shares are up more than 60% since the merged company started trading on December 9. No other major carrier is trading more than 40% higher, and all are trading at least 10% higher.
But the easy part may be over. Airline mergers are complicated by the need to merge not just management and bank accounts, but the flight numbering and scheduling systems, union contracts and rewards programs, just to name a few of the obvious ones.
The merger between Delta Air Lines Co. (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest Airlines took more than four years to reach the point where the two companies’ systems had been successfully combined. The merger that created United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) in 2010 continues to experience issues involving unions and the reservations system. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) also has its headaches from its merger with AirTran.
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Part of American’s success is due to the general enthusiasm for airline stocks, right up until the past week. Even the severe winter weather in the United States that forced the cancellation of more than 6% of all domestic flights did little more than touch the brakes. The fighting in Iraq has hit the carriers hard as investors and analysts are wary of the impact on rising crude oil prices on jet fuel.
Most airline stocks fell sharply Thursday, yet all got a bit of that loss back Friday. It is almost as if investors bought the dip because they are confident that the turmoil in Iraq will get sorted out and the airlines will return to making nice profits.
Shares of American Airlines closed at $40.38 on Friday, up 0.45% in a 52-week range of $15.28 to $44.43.
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