US Airways' Kirby On Merger Rules: Bring Labor In, Get Systems Right

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TheStreet) -- US Airways (LCC) and bankrupt American (AAMRQ.PK) say they will put together a very complicated merger, creating $1 billion in cost synergies, in a very short time.

The carriers expect the merger transaction to be completed, with bankruptcy court and regulatory approvals, by the third quarter of 2013. It should take about 18 months, to mid-2014, to secure a single operating certificate, although CEO Doug Parker said on a conference call with analysts and media that "what customers see will hopefully be sooner."

In an interview on Thursday, after the two airlines announced plans to merge into the world's largest airline, US Airways President Scott Kirby said that a 2005 merger between America West and US Airways yielded two key lessons.

"We learned it is important to have labor on board upfront, as much as possible, (and with) the historic partnership we have developed with labor, we will have 100,000 employees on day one all pulling in the same direction," he said.

Asked what management did wrong in the 2005 merger, Kirby cited the technology systems integration, saying "it's really important to make sure the process and the training works. You have to make sure all the people are (well) trained."

On the conference call, Parker elaborated on the systems integration, saying: "The learning experience we had, we will certainly bring to this. Airlines talk a lot about the merger of systems; the real issue is the processes these systems drive. That's where you get yourself caught."

In the 2005 merger, America West's Shares reservations system was picked over US Airways' Sabre system. But Parker said it will be different this time, because "adopting the larger carrier's system and process is easier.

"Stealing from a competitor, the people at Delta (DAL) called it 'adopt and go,'"he said.

Kirby said many decisions, such as how to integrate management teams and whether to paint some American planes in the colors of predecessor airplanes, as was done in the 2005 merger, have not been made. He indicated that a Winston-Salem, N.C., reservations office, which employs about 820 people and dates back to Piedmont Airlines days, will remain open, as will an American reservations office in Cary, N.C, that employs 721 agents as well as 1,465 additional agents, includijng 575 in the Raleigh-Durham area, who work from home.

"There are no plans to close any reservations offices," Kirby said.

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