Major Airline Merger News?
The United Airlines CEO proposed the idea of buying American Airlines recently.
This would be an absolute mega-merger (is that a word?) combining two of the largest US airlines.
United and American would end up controlling more than 33% of the domestic airline market, according to View From The Wing.
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, was famously fired from American Airlines 10 years ago - and that shook up the executive landscape in the airline industry.
We believe this is mostly corporate posturing by Kirby and a dig at the downfall of American and uprise of United since Kirby joined.
He likes to beat American Airlines any chance he gets - and honestly who wouldn’t want to one up a former employer?
This merger would face serious antitrust regulation from several parties, including the Department of Justice and multiple US states.
Ultimately though, a major airline merger like this would be bad for us consumers.
Competition among airlines is what keeps prices low.
Even budget airlines like Spirit make large airlines adjust pricing - so hopefully the bankruptcy rumors are not true (again).
Love them or hate them (there’s no in between for Spirit), they are critical to keeping fares competitive.
Maybe this is a play for United to make a smaller acquisition in the near future.
*cough cough* JetBlue.
To read more about the merger discussion, check out this article by View From The Wing.