A baffling 'bid' for American Airlines. Is it real?

A mysterious offer to buy American Airlines came in this week, from an investment outfit no one has ever heard of. The bid, if it is one, was not only sent to American's Fort Worth headquaters but it was also forwarded to the reporters for local newspapers at the same time -- just the opposite of what serious takeover artists usually do when making a run at a company. What does it all mean? Here is an excellent analysis by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an Australian service with veteran U.S. correspondents working for it.

And is the idea that AA could be a takeover target so far-fetched? No it's not. Remember what I (and some analysts who know a lot more than I do) have suggested here before: Someday PHL's big kahuna, US Airways, could make a run at American. Among other things, PHL would make a great European gateway alternative to the more-congested JFK in New York for AA and its oneworld alliance.