全美航空并購案中的工會博弈

????同時，全美航空與其老員工的關系也存在爭議。所以，全美航空這么短的時間內就與美航的工會組織達成了協議，最意外的人莫過于全美航空自己的員工了。多年以來，全美航空公司的飛行員一直要求加薪，并且自2009年12月起，一直在與公司管理層就新勞動合同進行談判。此外，自從去年11月份合同到期以來，空乘人員也一直在與航空公司談判。

????但全美航空聲稱，合并所帶來的12.5億美元協同收入將用于為員工加薪，使公司員工達到美航公司員工的收入水平。公司還宣布，合并后不會大規模減少航線或削減運力。而要實現這些承諾，全美航空只能寄希望于更強勁的增長或者更豐厚的利潤空間，來實現高收入協同效應目標。然而，很不幸的是，幾乎還沒有證據顯示，一家航空公司合并之后的增長率一定會顯著高于同行業其他公司。

????所以，全美航空要想獲得成功，就必須向負責監督美航破產的債權人委員會提供一份極具說服力的方案，因為該委員會對于美航的最終命運具有極大的影響力。委員會九名成員中，三名來自美航公司的工會組織，所以，至少目前來說，全美航空已經得到了三張贊成票。另外三位成員是美航公司的無擔保債權人，他們自然希望在最短的時間內做成最劃算的交易。最后三名成員分別來自退休金福利擔保公司（Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation）、波音公司（Boeing）和惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard）。

????全美航空曾經有過類似的經歷。之前在達美航空破產時，全美航空曾參與并購，最終未能如愿。當時，全美航空在提出的方案中為債權人委員會開出了豐厚的條件，并保證實現強勁的收入協同效應。然而，雖然這個方案在紙面上看起來比達美航空管理層的方案更誘人，債權人委員會卻認為該方案太過冒險。委員會擔心收入協調效用無法實現，而且政府可能根據反壟斷法質疑這宗并購交易。而且，全美航空可能在達美航空破產清算過程中便開始曠日持久、痛苦的并購，進而推遲向債權人支付的日期。

????這一次，全美航空已經有三票在手，它希望借此讓其他債權人相信，全美航空將迅速完成兩家公司的整合，這樣債權人拿到錢的時間不會比選擇美航的方案超出太多。

????現在輪到美航站出來緩和局面，同時還可能需要拿出更多的前來安撫工會組織。全美航空的方案已經得到了美航工會組織的支持，因此遠遠要比單打獨斗看起來更具可行性。目前，兩份方案之間的出入只有區區1.9億美元。預計美航將在幾周內向法院提交破產方案，但如果提交延期，破產程序則可能延長數月。美航或許需要做出一點小小的讓步，重新贏得工會組織的支持。但如果美航過于軟弱，可能過不了幾年它又得重新走上破產法庭。

????譯者：阿龍/汪皓

????US Airways continues to have a contentious relationship with its own employees. Perhaps no one was more surprised by how swift US Airways was able to come to an agreement with American's unions than its own unions. US Airways pilots have been pushing for a wage increase for years and have been negotiating a new contract with management since December of 2009. The flight attendants are also negotiating with the airline as their contract ran out in November of last year.

????But US Airways claims the $1.25 billion in synergies that will come out of the merger reflects an increase in pay for its employees, which would bring them in line with American employees. It also claims that it would not significantly cut routes or eliminate capacity as a result of the merger, either. So for all this to be true, US Airways must be anticipating high revenue synergies through stronger growth or fatter profit margins. Unfortunately, there is little to no evidence that merged airlines end up experiencing significantly stronger growth rates relative to the rest of the industry.

????So for US Airways to be successful it will need to present a very convincing plan to the creditors committee overseeing American's bankruptcy, which has a big influence on whether the airline merges or flies solo. Three of the nine members of the committee are representatives from American's unions, so US Airways can claim them, at least for now. Three represent American's unsecured creditors, so they will want the best deal they can can get in the shortest amount of time possible. The rest of the committee is made up of one member from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, Boeing, and Hewlett-Packard, respectively.

????US Airways has been down this road before when it unsuccessfully tried to snap up Delta in bankruptcy. In that case, US Airways presented a plan that saw greater benefits flowing down to the members of the creditors committee with promises of strong revenue synergies. While it was on paper a better plan than the one presented by Delta's management, it was also considered riskier. There was concern that those revenue synergies would never materialize and that the government could challenge the merger on anti-trust grounds. And US Airways would have started the long and painful merger while Delta was still in bankruptcy, pushing back the date at which the creditors would get paid.

????This time, US Airways has three votes right off the bat. It is hoping to use that leverage to convince the other creditors that they will be able to quickly integrate the two companies so that they won't have to wait much longer to get paid than if they went with American's plan.

????It is now up to American to diffuse the situation and possibly bring more money to the table to appease its unions. With American's unions by its side, US Airways' plan looks far more actionable than it would if it went in alone. The difference between the plans right now appears to be just $190 million. American is expected to present its bankruptcy plan to the courts in a couple of weeks but it could get an extension to stretch out the process for several months. American may need to give in a bit to win its unions back, but not too much. If it is too weak, the airline could wind up right back in bankruptcy court in a few years.