AirTran, the new Southwest

As we all know Southwest as the the no-frills low price airline in which many of us love because of its quick and friendly service. They have decided to take a bold move and has buy out their main rivals in a deal worth approximately 3.4 billion dollars. We have been hearing of these many mergers between the main legacy carriers such as United and Continental, and Northwest with Delta. But no one had expected the deal between the two no-frills airlines of Southwest and AirTran to actually work out.

"Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - News) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI - News), the parent company of AirTran Airways (AirTran), for a combination of cash and Southwest Airlines' common stock."
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Unlike the merger between the major legacy carriers such as United and Continental in this situation the difference between the two is when a merger occurs management and many other high positions are made obsolete or are smudged together and made whole. In this situation, all of the employees of AirTran will now be under the operations of Southwest. In a way this is good because there's not as much complication that occurs. However there are also certain problems, since it is not a merger and it's more of the buyout there are many overlapping jobs that might need to be cut. Also since management is not merging many of AirTran's higher officials will not have no say in how their employees are treated or what their future will end up to be.

""Today is an exciting day for our Employees, our Customers, the communities we serve, and our Shareholders," said Gary C. Kelly, Chairman, President, and CEO of Southwest Airlines. "As we approach our 40th Anniversary of providing exceptional Customer Service at everyday low fares, the acquisition of AirTran represents a unique opportunity to grow Southwest Airlines' presence in key markets we don't yet serve and takes a significant step towards positioning us for future growth."
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People always have that bad taste in their mind that mergers are buyouts are always a bad idea. We always have that sense that quality and service will go down while the price goes up.The truth is that fares and other statistics depend on different variables. There is not always one way in which aviation works. Prices will fluctuate with demand and the economy.

The future of Southwest looks great and they now have a bigger and stronger airline than ever. The hope of to bring the best of the companies in order to make a more perfect airline.