Also This Week: Bankruptcy Judge Hears Final Comments

It's pins and needles time for US Airways this week, as the America West board of directors decides whether to go ahead with a planned merger between the two airlines.

The entire deal, which is seen as US Air's savior, could well depend on the bankrupt airline's willingness to change. "They have to recast what they're doing on the East Coast because it doesn't work any more," Michael Boyd, head of the Boyd Group, told the Washington Post. "They have to shove more of their flights to feed their East to West traffic and less flights between North to South traffic."

The board vote, expected on Tuesday, is the first of two hurdles the airlines face if they're to complete the merger envisioned by their corporate leaders. The second comes on Thursday, when a federal bankruptcy judge in Alexandria, VA, hears final comments on US Airways' plan to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.

Neither milestone is expected to put the brakes on the planned merger. If all goes as planned, the two airlines could begin to act as one as early as September 27th.

But don't expect major changes right away.

On day one, we won't have a completely seamless process across the board. It may take a few weeks," America West spokesman J. Scott Kirby told the Post. "But we ask our passengers to bear with us."

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.americawest.com