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Airline Merger Impact on Local Fliers

185 views · Published 18 February 2013 · 3:27 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by John Madewell  American Airlines and U.S. Airways both fly in and out of Chattanooga. So what does the $11B merger mean to local fliers?This Valentine's Day connection has been in the works for several years. And for fliers here it seems good news and bad news.One investment advisor tells NewsChannel 9 he expects prices to increase, but overall air service here should improve.Raj Ponnusamy was on board a U.S. Airways flight from Charlotte that landed early this afternoon. Ponnusamy comes here every month on business. He welcomed the merger, I think it's going to be good. When I read the news yesterday I felt good about it because it will give me more choices actually, not only from a Chattanooga standpoint, but overall.One man in Chattanooga who has a solid grasp on the business of airlines is Warren Barnett. He's an investment advisor that analyzes companies and trends. Barnett keeps a close eye on airlines. This is what he said you can expect right away, In the short run it won't be any change at all because it takes 18 months to two years to really put the two airines together. However, over time it's going to mean higher ticket prices.How much, Barnett said, depends on many factors such as fuel prices.But he estimates a 10 to 20 percent increase. It's because there will be less competition, there may be less capacity. Lower capacity is going to affect those ticket prices because there are fewer cheap seats.The merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways will make it the largest carrier in the world. And that will change the Chattanooga Airport's game plan.It will have to sell the city even more to attract more robust service to hubs Charlotte, Washington D.C, Chicago, and Dallas.Marketing Director Christina Siebold said, Long term we would be looking at what is the airline's strategy as far as growing those hubs and how can Chattanooga fit into that. So if we have an excess of  passengers going into Dallas and American Airlines is looking to grow that hub, how can we grow into that market, how can we convince them our community is the best community they can put that airplane into?On the financial side, Barnett said the merger may mean the elimination of some routes. But he doesn't expect it here.He said overall, the skies should be brighter for Chattanooga fliers. I think it's going to be probably a positive. The reason I say that is we may get better air service out of it. Chattanooga is sort of on the cusp I think a lot of increases in connecting cities.Small changes at Chattanooga Airport may develop such as one ticket counter instead of two. But Siebold said, in the short term they don't expect any changes in the flight process.

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