The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Wednesday said they oppose United Airlines' current plan to acquire US Airways and will take up the fight with the Justice Department and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.  --- That opening line came straight across all the news wires early this morning!

The IAM union is upset that its 37,000 members at United and US Airways do not have written job protection should this merger be approved.  They feel that the pending US Airways merger is a threat to their jobs and have thus taken this official position of opposition.

A United spokesperson responded by saying that the Company has made significant forward progress in the discussions until "IAM subsequently choose to add totally unacceptable conditions to the merger closing."

So let's add up the numbers: 37,000 represented workers by IAM + 26,000 represented workers by AFA = 63,000 total employees whose official union position is against the current US Airways merger plans.

Think about that one for a minute...  You've got 63,000 out of 100,000 against the merger plan.  In other words, a majority of the United Airlines workforce is officially and publicly speaking out against the US Airways merger!

Perhaps it's time to pull the plug on this merger fiasco, apologize for the premature idea, and get down to repairing the company morale?  How many more employee groups are left that need to take an official position against it?  How many more threats of strikes and job slowdowns do we have to read in the paper each day concerning United Airlines?

I'm not kidding here, dammit!  This is a very sad and difficult situation when you like the company and employees as much as I do.

This merger is really hurting our company morale, not to mention the image of United Airlines in the eyes of those who eventually matter the most: the customers.  The news media (including yours truly) have always hammered out lots of colorful words about this proposed merger---that's fine because everyone's got an opinion (again, including yours truly)---but when you start reading the word 'STRIKE' with regularity and hearing about the unhappy mechanics and the unhappy flight attendants officially against the merger plans, well folks, it may be time for those involved in implementing this merger to rethink the idea.

Dear United Employees,

First, please accept my sincere apology.  I realize after last summer the tremendous difficulties you all experienced at work.  I also realize that just before the summer, our company was embarking on a new direction--a new way of doing business within ourselves that would ensure that good customer service flowed throughout the airline, seamlessly from my desk on down yours.  It was called CSP and it entailed empowerment and quality service within our own organization.

Everyone makes mistakes; we're only human after all!  I believe the original intention to purchase US Airways for 4.3 billion dollars will go down in the UAL history books as a big mistake in skidding off the good-intentioned track of improving morale and into merger greed territory and bad media.

Therefore, effective immediately, we are canceling our current plans for the US Airways merger.  It was a good idea at simply the wrong time, pure and simple.  Instead, we are going to get back to basics.  Get back to running our own airline properly with the original intentions that Mr. Greenwald helped implement during his tenure here.  In short, we're going to 'walk-the-walk' regarding CSP and apply it within our own company first.

So let me say to each of you again that on behalf of the Board of Directors, I'm very sorry for the hardship you experienced at work the past year and a half.  And I'm also sorry for the negative press you've had to endure.  I honestly can assure you now that in one year's time, you will be as happy to work for this company as any good employee ought to be.  I'm going to close this letter now, roll up my sleeves, and get down to the business of fixing this airline---this time for real and this time from the heart.

Sincerely,

Company CEO
Fantasyland, USA