US Airways: We Are Not the 'Ugly Girl'

Posted by: Justin Bachman on May 5, 2010

The expressive chief executive of Continental Airlines, Jeff Smisek, miffed plenty of US Airways workers on May 3 when he called his company the “pretty girl” in the courtship by United Airlines for a merger deal. The “ugly” girl? That would be US Airways, which ended its own deal talks with United after it became clear United preferred Continental.

Well, the so-called “ugly girl” airline wants it made clear that she - er, it - is no such thing. “As one of you simply put it, “Why are we the ugly girl?’” US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker wrote May 4 in an email to his troops. “The answer, of course, is we are not and there’s no better evidence of that than our recent performance.” He went on to say that when it comes to operational metrics - profit margins, on-time performance and stock price growth - US Airways tops Continental.

Parker - who called the remarks “both chauvinistic and offensive to the hard-working people of US Airways” - said that Smisek had apologized in a note. “I believe Jeff was sincere in his apology, have accepted it on behalf of all of us and am ready to move past it,” he wrote. And for any other M&A-minded airlines out there, that Tempe-based girl in the desert remains single.