US Airways sweetens offer for Delta by 20%=0AUpdated 1/11/2007 8:49 AM ETE-= mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like th= is =0A=0A=0ADoug Parker=0AThe Arizona Republic=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0ABy D= an Reed, USA TODAY=0AUS Airways moved aggressively Wednesday to convince he= sitant creditors of Delta Air Lines that merging the two carriers is in the= ir best interests. It added $1 billion in cash and 11 million more shares o= f stock to its pending offer for Delta, which is in bankruptcy-court protec= tion.=0AThe 20% bump in value of US Airways' (LCC) offer =97 to $10.2 billi= on from the $8.5 billion it initially offered on Nov. 15 =97 came just two = days after US Airways officials met with former Continental CEO Gordon Beth= une, a consultant to Delta's creditors committee.=0AANALYSIS: Which airline= s would make graceful dancing partners?=0AUS Airways hinted that Bethune's = message was that a substantially sweeter offer might move the deal forward.= Creditors have been weighing the initial US Airways bid against Delta mana= gement's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy later this year as a sta= nd-alone carrier.=0ATwo weeks ago, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said he did n= ot intend to increase its offer. But US Airways President Scott Kirby said = Wednesday that the increase is a response to concerns that the first deal c= ouldn't win the support of Delta's creditors.=0A"We wanted to remove the th= ought that might be in someone's mind that this offer wouldn't be more valu= able" than the stand-alone plan from Delta management, Kirby said.=0AHe als= o said the boosted offer is designed to rekindle the fire under a process t= hat had cooled in recent weeks.=0AIf the deal goes through, it would create= the world's biggest airline and possibly unleash a series of mergers and a= cquisitions in the U.S. airline industry. In addition to approval from the = bankruptcy court, the deal would need government approval.=0AWhether the sw= eetened bid from US Airways will be enough to win the support of two-thirds= of Delta's creditors isn't clear. But airline bond analyst Roger King at C= reditSights, a credit research firm, said he's betting that more than a thi= rd of Delta's creditors will support the new US Airways bid. That's enough,= he noted, to block Delta management's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 as an= independent airline.=0A"Their stand-alone plan is dead-on-arrival as a res= ult of this new offer from US Airways," King says.=0AThat doesn't mean US A= irways' richer offer will win the support of the two-thirds of Delta credit= ors needed to win the bidding war, he added. A third bidder =97 possibly No= rthwest, United or perhaps even a group of hedge funds, banks and private e= quity investors =97 could enter the picture, he said.=0AUnited has expresse= d general interest in mergers with other airlines. A Delta-Northwest match = has been the subject of speculation since the carriers filed Chapter 11 on = the same day at the same courthouse in September 2005.=0APosted 1/10/2007 7= :00 AM ET