????當初，工會組織代表破產后的美航公司（American Airlines）同意了全美航空公司（US Airways）的收購要約，現在他們可能后悔不已。畢竟全美航空的規模小于美航，自身也面臨嚴重的勞工問題，因此對于美航的員工們來說，比起和老東家一起堅持到底，與這樣一家航空公司進行并購可能更加痛苦。圍繞美航工會組織與全美航空的協議仍然存在諸多疑問，因此，工會組織的舉措似乎只是為了在與美航公司管理層進行工資、福利和退休金談判時，多一些討價還價的籌碼，而不是真的要背叛老東家。然而，現在這場談判已經演變成一場高風險的博弈游戲。

????目前，美航管理層尚未表態。但最終，他們可能要向員工和退休人員讓步，并尋找其他途徑來縮減開支，才能讓并購談判順利推進。否則，支持一家與員工存在對立情緒的航空公司可能會讓美航的債權人感到不安，最終導致他們轉而支持全美航空。

????美航公司三個主要工會組織均宣布支持全美航空的或有收購要約，這個事態的發展在航空行業引起了極大震動。勞工問題將成為爭奪美航控制權的核心，這一點不足為奇。畢竟，居高不下的勞動力成本才是迫使這家公司倒閉的主要原因。美航公司的勞動力成本相當于其收入的28%，在目前美國的大型航空公司中排在首位。達美航空（Delta）、聯合航空（United）和全美航空的勞動力成本分別僅占公司收入的18%、20%和17%。這一巨大的成本劣勢意味著美航每年需要比同行業公司多支付約6億美元的工資。

????多年以來，美航的管理層一直試圖與公司工會組織達成新協議，將公司勞動力成本降低到行業水平。然而，由于工會組織不愿意放棄豐厚的津貼和退休金，因此協議未能達成。而在上周的分析師電話會議上，全美航空表示，他們輕而易舉就與美航的工會組織達成了協議。協議內容包括在并購之后，每年只需削減8億美元勞動力成本，屆時，美航的員工工資和福利將與行業標準持平。

????該協議比美航9億美元的勞動力成本削減方案少了約1.9億美元。美航的方案計劃裁撤13,000個崗位，而根據全美航空披露的方案，其中“至少”6,200個崗位將得以保留。全美航空還保證，并購之后的協同效用每年可以額外產生12.5億美元收入，幾乎相當于美航目前計劃削減的12億美元。

????外界很難預測這些收入將從何而來，全美航空也并未明確說明。不過它倒是列舉了過去幾年中合并的其他航空公司。通過選擇合并，而不是繼續作為獨立的實體，這些新航空公司獲得了新近合并公司凈收益約6%至7%的份額。

????然而并購也會產生許多令人頭痛的問題，尤其是勞工問題，他們通常都是并購交易中蒙受損失的群體。并購一家航空公司最痛苦的事或許就是整合員工尤其是飛行員的年資表。全美航空對此深有體會。因為雖然從它并購美國西部航空（America West）至今已經過去了長達七年的時間，但它目前仍在吃力地合并兩家公司的年資表。所以，雖然全美航空表面看來是一家完整的公司，但實際上仍在像兩家公司一樣運營，原屬全美航空和美國西部航空的飛行員和機組人員還是只能使用原先公司的飛機。這導致全美航空無法充分利用其航班運力，據公司管理層披露，公司每年為此承受的損失高達1,000萬美元。

????The unions representing bankrupt American Airlines may come to regret agreeing to hook up with US Airways. Merging with a smaller carrier that has its own severe labor troubles looks far more painful and disruptive to American employees than would be the case if they just stuck it out with their current bosses. Given all the question marks surrounding this pact, the unions' move here looks more like a bargaining tactic than an earnest defection in what has become a high stakes game of chicken with American management over wages, benefits and pensions.

????For now, American management isn't blinking. But eventually they may need to be a little bit more accommodating to their employees and pensioners and look for cuts elsewhere if they want to put all this merger talk to bed. If not, American's creditors could start feeling nervous about supporting an airline with a hostile workforce and end up siding with US Airways by default.

????American Airlines' three main labor unions support a tie up with US Airways (LCC), a development that came as a bit of a shock to many in the airline industry. But it was no surprise that labor would be at the center of the battle for control of American -- after all, it was the airline's high labor costs that forced it into bankruptcy in the first place. American's labor cost is equivalent to around 28% of its revenue, the highest of any major airline operating in the U.S. today. That compares with Delta (DAL), United (UAL) and US Airways where labor costs are 18%, 20% and 17% of revenue, respectively. This huge cost disadvantage meant that American paid annually around $600 million more in wages compared to its peers.

????American management had tried for years to come to an agreement with the unions for a new contract that would bring labor costs in line with the rest of the industry but failed as the unions didn't want to let go of their juicy perks and fat pensions. But US Airways revealed on a conference call with analysts last week that they were able to effortlessly come to an agreement with American's unions, which would involve slashing just $800 million off American's annual labor bill in a merger. They noted that this would put American workers pay and benefits in line with industry standards.

????The agreement would be around $190 million less than the $990 million American tentatively plans to cut in labor costs. US Airways says its plan saves "at least" 6,200 positions out of the 13,000 positions American plans on cutting under its plan. It promised that the synergies created in a merger would yield $1.25 billion in additional revenue each year, which would be roughly equal to the $1.2 billion in cuts American has proposed so far.

????It's hard to say where all these savings would come, and US Airways didn't specifically say. What it did say is that other airlines that have merged in the recent past have netted a gain as much as 6% to 7% of the newly combined carrier's revenues by choosing to merge rather than remain stand alone entities.

????But merging also creates a lot of headaches for airlines, especially for labor, which usually comes out the loser in any deal. Probably the most painful part in merging an airline is dealing with integrating seniority lists among its employees, especially its pilots. US Airways knows this all too well as it is still trying to merge its seniority lists seven years after its merger with America West. So while the public sees US Airways as an integrated unit, it actually must operate as two separate carriers in which legacy US Air pilots and flight attendants can only fly on legacy US Air planes and legacy America West pilots and flight attendants can only fly on legacy America West planes. This prevents US Airways from achieving maximum fleet utilization that management says costs the airline $10 million a year.