Easy HC, don’t forget who started this thread in the first place…
All the Norwegian carriers were loosing money at the time and the question was who could “out-bleed” the other. The Braathens family made a responsible decision, maybe not the best thing for themselves. Another approach would have been to remove the assets and run the company into bankruptcy and avoid all commitments.
Braathens had cash equity of 559 mio. at the time plus the aircrafts they owned along with other assets. Additional loans could have extended this even further. Many airlines have been running for years on loans. This allowed the option of a long battle against SAS.
I think that both Braathens and SAS pilots benefited from the merger. A long battle would most likely have left a winning but broke and vulnerable SAS. The coordination of route structures benefited both companies since no one could make money with all the parallel half empty flights at the time.
Last edited by Capt. Haddock; 2nd Sep 2004 at 09:19.