Love is in the air 爱在天空

THE announcement of a merger to form the world’s largest airline, with the capacity to carry nearly 150m passengers a year, might once have caused a flurry of excitement. But the $3 billion all-share deal to bring together United Airlines (UAL) and Continental Airlines was greeted on May 3rd with a politely stifled yawn. Industry rivals, employees of the two carriers and even consumer advocates—all potential losers from the combination—expressed mild misgivings but concluded that such consolidations were a sign of the times. Wall Street granted lukewarm approval, marking shares in both firms down a little.
一项旨在缔造全球最大航空公司的合并案(并购后的公司将具有运输150，000，000乘客的年营运能力)本应该一石激起千层浪，可实际情况却并非如此----这次高达30亿美元、将联合航空公司(UAL)和大陆航空公司结合起来的换股认购交易在宣布的时候（5月3号），人们懒得关注，气氛稍显沉闷；而合并潜在的输家：同行业的竞争者、它们自己的员工甚至是消费者权益拥护人士也只表达了适度的担忧，认为这次合并是大势所趋；华尔街对这次并购的默许，也仅仅导致了两家公司股价的小幅下跌。

Reaction was muted partly because there was nothing surprising about the deal. A couple of years ago, immediately after the merger of two other big American airlines, Delta and Northwest, UAL and Continental tried to follow suit. But record oil prices and the onrushing recession persuaded Continental that it was not the time to take on new risks (not least UAL’s rickety finances). Although both airlines made hefty losses last year, the improving economy, recovering business traffic and cheaper fuel created the conditions for a second attempt. However, the trigger for new talks was an impending tie-up between UAL and another carrier, US Airways. Continental’s boss, Jeff Smisek rang his opposite number at UAL, Glenn Tilton, on April 9th to tell him that there was a better option. Mr Smisek said this week: “I didn’t want to him marry the ugly girl. I wanted him to marry the pretty one, and I’m much prettier.”
人们的反应之所以如此平静，原因在于这项合并案并不是第一次摆上台面了：早在几年前，当美国的另外两家大型航空公司达美与西美合并后，这俩位就迫不及待地想效仿了。但后来考虑到居高不下的有油价和肆略的金融危机，大陆航空退缩了，认为当时不是的合并时机(尤其是联合航空摇摇欲坠的财政状况)。而今年尽管两家公司依然蒙受了巨大的损失，但回暖的经济、回升的航空业务以及下调的油价无不为第二次尝试创造了条件。然而，真正使得此次谈判落实的催化剂，却是联合航空与另一家航空公司全美航空近乎达成的合作协议----当时(4月9日)，在石志辉先生(大陆航空的董首席执行官)得知这一消息后便致电谭凯翔先生(联合航空的首席执行官)，向他提出一个更好的选择，石志辉先生在本星期也承认：“我不愿意看到他(联合航空公司)娶一个东施(全美航空公司)，他应该娶美丽的西施，而我(大陆航空公司)就比全美漂亮多了。”更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

Mr Tilton insists that it had never been his intention to use jilted US Airways as bait to snare Continental, but there is no doubt that the deal he now has makes a lot of sense. The two chief executives claim that the combined carrier should benefit from savings of at least $1 billion a year and from substantial extra revenues once operational integration is complete by 2013. The airlines’ networks at home and abroad are highly complementary, except in their hub cities, which will allow them to reduce capacity without conceding market share to competitors. Continental’s recent decision to join UAL in the Star Alliance should also help. And they now have the example of Delta and Northwest to follow: their merger seems to have gone more smoothly than some others in the past, and is already yielding big savings.
相比之下，谭凯翔先生却拒不承认自己利用了全美航空公司放长线钓大鱼，但毫无疑问他促成这次合并合情合理：现在，这对“夫妇”声称此次合并将使新公司的年营运成本至少节约10亿美元，并且在过渡全部完成的2013年，年收入将大幅增加。同时，他们在国际和国内航线上都是高度互补的，中心城市当然不在此列，但即便如此，也使得新公司能在不割让市场的前提下减少一线城市的投资。而且由于联合航空是星空联盟的会员，更是锦上添花。这次的并购协议似乎也比过去的类似的案例做得要如鱼得水得多——因为他们有美与西美这样成功的前例照葫芦画瓢。现在，他们的合作已经凸显出节省成本的效果了。

However, there are still a number of hurdles to be overcome. Although the airline unions appear resigned to job losses among the 88,000 employees of both companies, vexed issues such as the seniority of pilots will need deft handling. UAL and Continental, unlike Delta and Northwest, use different booking systems, which will make bringing together back-office functions more fraught. Regulatory approval could also prove trickier than for Delta and Northwest, whose deal was approved by George Bush’s relatively laissez-faire Department of Justice. Although the merger is highly unlikely to be blocked, Barack Obama’s administration, with its close ties to trade unions, could delay approval or attach unwelcome conditions to a deal the parties are anxious to seal before the end of the year.
但是仍然还有很多困难需要克服：尽管两家的工会都同意在8800员工中进行裁员,但诸如飞行员年资等棘手的问题，处理起来还很需要技巧；不同于达美与西美的情况,联合航空和大陆航空的订票系统是不同的，这使得后台功能的融合充满了困难；而且； 达美与西美的合并是在布什政府相对放任的司法部下被批准的，所以尽管这次的并购案不太可能被驳回，但对与急于想在年底完事的两位，和工会联系紧密的奥巴马政府可能会延迟盖章或是附加苛刻的条件。

Bringing United and Continental together should create a stronger, more financially stable airline.at least in the short to medium term. But it is not a transformative deal. American network carriers will still suffer from familiar ills: over-regulation, high overheads, inflexible unions, elderly fleets and constant attrition from low-cost point-to-point operators. Consolidation can provide some breathing space, but it does not fundamentally alter the dynamics of an industry still riddled with structural inefficiencies.
联合航空和大陆航空的合并可能会缔造更强大财政状况更稳定的航空公司，至少从短期和中期来看是如此的。但是这项并购案并不是划时代的革新，美国航空业还是会面临多年来的痼疾：过度的监管，过高的管理费用，僵化的工会，老化的客机，以及廉价的点对点航班的不断减少。合并当然能提供为他们一些缓冲时间，但却不能从根本上解决航空业结构低效的难题。