US Airways Denies Northwest is Next

PHOENIX (AP) — US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker said Thursday he won’t make a bid for Northwest Airlines Corp. unless he hears that another carrier is interested in doing so.

Parker had said that Northwest and Delta Air Lines were the only airlines worth buying. Both are currently going through bankruptcy and would allow an acquiring company to save money by canceling expensive contracts and leases.

But after being rebuffed last week in its $9.8 billion hostile offer for Delta by its official creditors committee, which affirmed the carrier’s stand-alone plan, Parker said he won’t make a similar offer for Northwest.

“We know how much value can be created through mergers,” Parker said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think the rest of the industry isn’t there yet. I think that maybe it will take the next (economic) downturn before people realize that this industry isn’t fixed yet.”

Parker has aggressively sought to make his company more competitive by trying to buy other carriers or their assets.

In September 2005, his America West Airlines bought the former US Airways out of bankruptcy. Fourteen months later, after boosting profits with US Airways Group Inc., Parker made his first overture for Delta.

The combined airline, he said, would save $1.65 billion each year by trimming its aircraft fleet, cutting redundant routes and other synergies.

Parker, who had raised his offer 20 percent before it was rejected, said Thursday he wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“The creditors just chose not to go with our proposal,” he said. “We think our proposal was better, but it was their prerogative, and we left on our own terms.”

Parker said he hasn’t contacted Northwest officials and he doesn’t plan to. However, if another airline makes a bid for Northwest or any other carrier, “we need to be involved in that.”

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.