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There's been yet another merger in the airline industry.
航空業又出現了一起兼并重組的案例。
The Delta, the sixth largest carrier in the United States, will join wings with Western, which ranks ninth.
美國第六大航空公司達美航空將與排名第九的西部航空兼并。
By one standard, that will create the nation's third largest airline.
雙方兼并后，將排名第三。
The merger, agreed to by Western yesterday, makes sense, according to Con Hitchcock of the Aviation Consumer Action Project.
航空消費者行動項目的康·希契科克表示，昨天經由西部航空同意的這次兼并也是意料之中的。
The reason that the merger makes sense for a company like Delta is that Delta's based primarily in eastern United States,
從達美航空的角度來說，其總部在美國東部，在亞特蘭大有一個港口，
with a hub in Atlanta and some in Cincinnati and Dallas and Fort Worth.
此外在辛辛那提、達拉斯、沃思堡市也有一些港口。
But it doesn't really have a western presence.
但在美國西部，達美航空是沒有市場占有率的。
Western is based in Salt Lake City and has also got a lot of presence in Los Angeles.
西部航空總部在鹽湖城，在洛杉磯也有很大的影響力。
And if you can merge the two together successfully, there's the chance you'll have a successful large carrier
如果能成功地合二為一，那么就有機會鍛造成功的大型航空公司，
that can compete with United and American and other companies that are bigger than Delta.
可以與比達美航空大的公司媲美，比如聯合航空、美國航空。
What about the urge to merge? We've had an incredibly large number of mergers just in the last six months or so.
從客觀的角度來講有什么促成因素呢？過去半年來，我們進行了多次兼并重組。
There's a feeling in some sectors of the airline industry that if you want to be a survivor, if you want to be around, you have to get bigger.
航空業已經有一種風氣存在了，即如果想繼續留在市場進行競爭，就要擴大公司規模。
You have to get into a number of markets, and the easy way to do that is to buy off your competitors rather than try to expand from within.
要打入諸多市場，有一個簡單的辦法，即吞并競爭對手，而非從內部擴張。
And in some senses, it is easier to go out and raise the money rather than do things like try to get into the congested airports.
有的時候，在公司外部募集資金要比擠破腦袋與其他航空公司競爭容易的多。
You've got airports like Chicago and Denver and Los Angeles that are fairly crowded,
芝加哥、丹佛、洛杉磯等地的機場已經十分擁堵了，
that it's just difficult to go in a big way and establish yourself and attract a lot of customers.
要想大張旗鼓地成立一家新公司并吸引顧客眼球是非常難的。
And it's easier to go out and buy a company with an established market position than try to work your way up from ground zero.
更簡單的辦法是：并購一家別的公司，這家公司已經有了穩固的市場地位，這樣的起點更高。
What about a time factor? Is there any reason we're seeing all these merges now?
那航空業的這種現象與時間有關嗎？我們看到的兼并重組現象是否與其他原因有關呢？
Deregulation's been with us since 1978. Why now?
自1978年以來，就有了解除管制的現象，那現在為什么不可以呢？
I think there are a couple of reasons why there are so many airline merges now.
我個人認為，有幾個原因可以解釋如今航空業兼并重組司空見慣的現象。
First of all, there's sort of a herd mentality.
首先，大家都有從眾心理。
When United picked up Pan Am's Pacific routes earlier this year, that set off a ripple effect.
聯合航空今年年初并購泛美航空在太平洋的航線一事，確實引起了不小的波瀾。
Northwest said, Well, we're going to buy Republic in order to het bigger and compete, TWA, Ozark, etc. etc.
西北航空表示，我們也打算并購共和航空，這樣既可以壯大公司，也可以提高競爭力。此外，環球航空和歐扎克航空也在我們的考慮范圍內。
There really is a wave.
確實是有漣漪效應。
Secondly, there's the perception in the industry that the Department of Transportation which has to approve airline mergers,
其二，航空業普遍有一種認知，即交通部是必須要通過航空公司兼并的申請的，
is more lenient than the Justice Department would be.
這與更為嚴格的司法部不同。
But D.O.T. only has that authority for another two years.
但兩年后，審批權就不在交通部手里了。
And there's concern that if you don't do it now, the Justice Department may stop you if you try a couple years from now.
而且有人會擔心，認為如果現在不做，那么司法部幾年后就不讓做了。
The third reason is related to the tax bill.
其三是與稅法法案有關。
The tax bill that's pending in Congress will take away some of the benefits that make mergers easy to finance, staring on January lst.
從1月1日開始，國會現在尚未通過的稅法法案會帶來一些福利，降低兼并的難度。
So I think you're going to see a number of mergers in a lot of other industries as well between now and December 31st.
所以我覺得，今年還會有很多兼并發生。
When deregulation came into being, there was a lot of talk that what would happen is, you would have four or five major airlines,
剛有解除管制的時候，大家對可能發生的情況做了很多討論：以后可能會只有四五家大型航空公司，
a number of very successful regional airlines and the commuters.
此外還有很多成功的地區航空公司和通勤方式。
It seems as though that trend is here. We seem to be headed in that direction, and it's unfortunate.
基本上這就是大體的趨勢了，我們被推著往這個方向走，這很不幸。
I mean, deregulation was supposed to be more airlines competing for consumers' business, not fewer. There is inevitably...
我是說，解除管制本應該是呈現出更多航空公司競爭的局面，而不是更少。不可避免的……
Well, there are more. here are more, but the big ones are getting bigger.
公司是越來越多了，但強者卻愈強。
And there are some advantages in the sense that you can travel from one city to another on a single airline
不過，從某種方面來講也有優勢，
without having to change lines and that sort of thing.
比如從一個城市去另一個城市可以不換航線了。
But the drawback is the industry shrinks, is that you have fewer mavericks,
但劣勢就是航空業逐漸縮水，有拼搏力的新秀公司越來越少，
or fewer airlines that might say, 'Gee, let's start a price war to raise some more traffic.'
就不會見到有航空公司有發動價格戰以多分一杯羹的情況了。
It can get very comfortable very quickly, and I'm not sure that's in the Consumer's interest in the long term.
我倒是可以很快的適應，但我不確定消費者的長期利益是否能得到保證。
Thanks very much. Con Hitchcock of the Aviation Consumer Action Project.
非常感謝，以上觀點來自航空消費者行動項目康·希契科克。
