Two Airline Related Announcements

Over the past week two very different yet significant news reports relating to the airline industry caught my attention; both posted on AMTOnline.com. First, as you probably know by now, yet another airline merger was announced. Southwest Airlines announced it will be purchasing AirTran Airways. On May 6th I spoke in my blog about the United Airlines and Continental Airlines merger. I didn’t expect to be talking again about another airline merger quite so soon; or maybe it’s not so soon. I called my daughter Monday morning after reading the news. She followed in my footsteps and currently works for AirTran. Little did I know how similar these footsteps really were, including us both being part of different airline mergers. The other airline related news report that caught my attention was the announcement that American Airlines officially closed the former TWA maintenance facility in Kansas City, Missouri. On September 25th the Dallas Morning News reported: TWA opened the facility in 1957 at what was then called Mid-Continental Airport, renamed Kansas City International Airport in 1972. At its peak, the facility had well over 10,000 employees as TWA reigned as one of America's four biggest carriers. By the time TWA …was bought up by American in 2001, the Kansas City base had dropped to around 2,500 mechanics… As of Sept. 1, Kansas City had only 398 employees left, American says. TWA was one of the great names of the old airline industry. I had the honor of visiting this maintenance facility probably 17 years ago. I recall it being similar to the old NWA facility that I worked in as a new airline mechanic, which today is all but gone. Mergers and facility closings, more signs of a changing industry. All the best to everyone involved, Ron