Friendly skies
Houston billionaires help Mayor Parker engineer takeover of United Airlines
Don't piss off Mayor Annise Parker.
After getting bumped from a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Houston over spring break, Parker returned to city hall determined to engineer a takeover of the airline, which recently finalized a merger with Continental Airlines. The mayor denied that she had a vendetta against the airline because of the eight-hour delay in returning to Houston with her family, even though she had tweeted her frustration.
"It's all about jobs," she said.
After the takeover is completed on April 1, 2013, the Chicago headquarters will be closed and all employees transferred to Houston. A contest will be held to rename the airline, although most observers expect the airline to take the Continental name again.
To finance the takeover, the mayor received financing from the 13 Houston-based billionaires on the Forbes list of the world's richest individuals.
Tilman Fertitta, the newest addition to the billionaire's list, agreed to help finance the takeover after Parker promised him he would have naming rights to first class cabins. For all flights leaving New York, the first class cabin will be named "Vic & Anthonys" after the restaurant that just opened in Manhattan while the premier class out of Atlanta will be called, "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co." and Las Vegas flights will have the "Golden Nugget" moniker.
No word yet on which restaurant Fertitta plans to highlight in planes departing Houston.
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Editor's Note: Happy April Fools' Day!