Quotes by Ray Neidl

“A bankruptcy filing will be a given if they dont get a concession from other unions. Its going to be one-on-one talks with each. Its a good sign these unions arent supporting the mechanics, but its by no means certain [the airline will] get what it needs.”

“Everything Ive heard so far is that bookings have not been affected.”

“The traffic was much weaker than anyone was expecting. My guess is no one knows for sure how bad it was, including the company.”

“Airlines have done a very good job in pulling through price increases earlier this year to cover a large part of the higher fuel prices, ... Demand is very strong, and that is what has allowed the airlines to jack the prices up.”

“Theyre going to lose some of these customers. If they can solve their problems by September, the problem will be limited. If it goes past September, theyll have trouble winning back the higher yielding customers.”

“There are no surprises. Basically what were hearing from the airlines is that volume is not falling off. Business is getting weak as travelers are trying to get around higher pricing with discounts. There was some weakening in February into March, but its not as bad as it sounds.”

“I think every contract is different, but Im hoping this will smooth the way for other contracts,”

“Peace at any prices appears to be a necessity. I wont say its a good deal, but its a necessity.”

“They can get so much more productivity without a third party acting as an intermediary. The unions will probably get the right to hold a vote, but I think theres a good chance Delta will keep the unions out. Last time there was a vote by mechanics, to my surprise it was overwhelmingly voted down.”

“Any amount of savings at this point is desperately needed by the airlines. With the tremendous pressures on airlines, this is one of few areas where they can actually reduce costs. With online purchasing of tickets, more and more channels are becoming available for consumers. If travel agents go out of business, itll make the system more efficient. Its a hard statement to make, but its true.”