The news is packed with airline merger talks.

Unlike almost everyone else, I don’t necessarily think they are all bad. The gist of what I’ve read from others is that the mergers will lead to higher fares, and if one merger happens, they all will, leading to fewer seats.

Higher fares? If you’ll notice, both Southwest and JetBlue have raised their hands indicating they will buy routes that would be spun off from any mergers to gain approval. It sounds to me like the low-cost carriers will supply the balance to higher fares that we need. Also, if there is cash for these mergers to happen, there is more cash for other start-ups and the expansion of low-cost carriers.

The domino effect caused by mergers? Excuse me, but did anyone notice that when TWA merged with American Airlines, no other airlines matched the merger? Solitary mergers can happen in this industry without everyone else feeling the need to follow.

And as for fewer seats, with codeshare agreements and reciprocal frequent flyer programs, so what. While the shortsighted critics point toward Delta shrinking by 10 percent, they somehow missed the fact that with Delta’s reciprocal frequent flyer alliances with Continental, Northwest and Alaska Airlines, they are nearly 208 percent bigger than they were before 9/11.

And of course, I have good faith in the management of most airlines that they will over-expand again. Look at the history of this industry, it’s almost always underserved or over served. This time, history is on our side.

But I must say, there is something I do not like about any of this merger talk – the people. There is little doubt that many airline employees will find themselves out of work. After all the givebacks they have suffered through, life isn’t fair at this point. But maybe it is for some of the “golden parachute” senior executives at some of these airlines.

Ask Randy.

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RANDY PETERSEN is publisher of Inside Flyer magazine and is president of Frequent Flyer Services. Email Randy at editor@executivetravelmag.com.