The rumor mill is working overtime spreading wild stories about Virgin America purchasing Frontier. We have also been asked whether Frontier and AirTran are talking. We have no idea if there is any truth to these tall tales ...
United and US Airways have stopped talking merger. United is talking with Continental about Continental joining the Star Alliance.
We still think there will be no mergers this year. Delta's stock continues to fall almost every day. We do not think shareholders will approve the deal with Northwest.
As the airlines continue to struggle, you can bet your last upgrade that there will be loud pleas from Congress to re-regulate the airline industry. I think this is just an awful idea. Market forces will determine who survives and who joins the growing ranks of the airline alumni club. If you think the industry is a mess now, just imagine how it will look with a bunch of politicians trying to figure out which carrier can fly when, where, and for how much. Oh My!
I do not think it would be a bad idea to allow foreign carriers to own more than 25 percent of the voting shares of an airline. There are no other such laws for any other industry that I can think of.
Robert Polk is CEO of Polk Majestic Travel Group in Denver. These insights are excerpted from Robert's weekly newsletter
, From the Desk of Robert A. Polk.