America West, US Air Merger

So America West (HP) and US Air (US) are set to merge? Doug Parker, CEO of HP, has been an advocate of market consolidation, but what this industry needs is contraction. There are simply so many seats in the air that to keep them filled, airlines cannot charge a high enough price to generate positive cash flow. The merger does not eliminate these seats, it only changes the name of the operator. Unless the new US Air creates a cost structure low enough to compete, the only thing the merger will accomplish will be the death of two airlines instead of one.