American Airlines says that it is not engaged in merger discussions with United Airlines because it’s obviously an antitrust problem and inconsistent with what the President would want (“our understanding of the Administration’s philosophy toward the industry”).
- United CEO Scott Kirby reportedly pitched the merger to President Trump
- So American doesn’t want to offend President Trump
- But come on man.
They do say they’re supportive of airline mergers, though (“while changes in the broader airline marketplace may be necessary”). They know that there’s dealmaking afoot. If it was someone else doing a deal they would be against it! So we can infer that they at least want to leave their options open pursuing JetBlue.
We appreciate the leadership and strong support of President Trump, Secretary Duffy and numerous other leaders in the Administration who have demonstrated expertise and an ongoing commitment to continue to improve the world’s best aviation industry.
American Airlines is not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines. While changes in the broader airline marketplace may be necessary, a combination with United would be negative for competition and for consumers, and therefore inconsistent with our understanding of the Administration’s philosophy toward the industry and principles of antitrust law. Our focus will remain on executing on our strategic objectives and positioning American to win for the long term.
We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the Administration as it takes steps to strengthen the broader airline industry.
American says that are not engaged with these discussions. They did not say they have not had any such discussions with United over being acquired.
And they say that they are not interested, but that does not mean they couldn’t become interested at the right price. The Board of Directors has a fiduciary obligation to shareholders. It’s like the old apocryphal Winston Churchill story.
Chuchill asks Lady Astor, “Would you sleep with me for £5 million?”
She hesitates, then says, “Well… yes, I suppose.”
He follows up: “Would you sleep with me for 50 quid?”
She snaps, “Certainly not! What kind of woman do you think I am?”
Churchill replies: “We’ve already established that, madam. Now we’re just haggling over the price.”
The antitrust issues involved, however, are just too daunting even if the Trump administration were to sign off and enter a settlement. Too many states, private parties, and other countries get a bite at the apple. And a future administration could even sue to break the deal up.
It does seem notable that they waited until after market close on Friday to respond to merger speculation. This is news that came out on Monday.
Because it’s not happening and never was happening and even if it did happen it would get reversed.
@Peter — Happy 6x Citi Nights!
I think UA and AA went through more than any other carrier did during 9/11.
UA and AA employees deserve retirement stability of a company surviving and thriving, rather than one or the other fading and bringing long term strain on the rest of the airline industry in the USA.
@KlimaBXsst — Kind of you to sorta pretend to care about the workers for once. (A little odd to invoke 9/11 here though.) I think the existing companies, not merged, probably better serve both workers and consumers, though. Such a merger likely only benefits top executives, some shareholders, and the law firms who arrange it.
@1990 – agree it won’t happen without major divestitures that likely would ruin the merits of the deal. Also, theoretically, a Dem administration could break up the deal although that is pitched by the militant left wing and not more mainstream Dems. However not easy to put toothpaste back in the tube. If somehow this was greenlit in 2026/2027 and pushed through challenges too much Will would happened by Jan 2029 to undo it.
All theoretical since won’t happen but the threat to retroactively break it up is more virtual signaling than reality
If the JetBlue acquisition of a massively unprofitable and soon-to-be liquidated Spirit was blocked by a clueless DOJ and judge because it’s money-losing $49 fares would “increase” from Toledo, no way should UA be allowed to acquire AA.
Of course now would be a good time for Isom to reaffirm his standalone premium “vision” for American, he’s just waiting for someone to provide him a script…after the stock has dropped more than 75% from $58 in 2018.
@Retired Gambler — As I was joking elsewhere recently, the current President could nationalize all airlines and rename them after himself, all with his Congress and Court’s approval, just by slingin’ his Truth Social around on a whim, and these jabronis in the C-suite would all fall in-line.
Now, I’d even get on-board with all that vomit if there was simply an EU261 equivalent here, which would simply compensate us when the airline cannot operate timely. Bah!
I can imagine the press conference now: “He’s a businessman!!”
Mad Money: *Jim slaps the button* “BUY! BUY! BUY!”
Both airlines should have been shut down, liquidated and their executives imprisoned for catastrophic security failures. Instead, we got the TSA.
As the saying goes, sometimes you need to put heads on posts as a warning to others. Not to mention the prospect of hard time among the general inmate population having a way of focusing the mind.
@Denver Refugee — Could’ve happened with any carrier. The terrorists likely chose the ones they did because they had more symbolism than say Delta. If you must ‘go-there’ we could also play the blame game on the lapses of private security at BOS or EWR (pre-TSA). Also, why not, W probably should’ve read that CIA report in President’s Daily Brief on Monday, August 6, 2001 (but, I get it, reading is hard). Lotta coulda shoulda woulda. Highly recommend visiting the Memorials in NYC and elsewhere; they’ve done their best to maintain an objective record and to tastefully honor the victims. It’ll never be enough though.
AA just said that they are ok w/ being acquired by DL if it means torquing Kirby
United cannot be (and will not be) allowed to acquire American. Aside from the obvious issues of concentration, at least one, if not two, major carriers, would sue to block it, likely setting up a very lengthy and costly battle in the courts, which would result in both UA and AA walking away.
Future consolidation is very much on the table though and it will look something like this:
NK (adios, this basket case won’t survice)
F9 combines with Allegiant and its bizarre merger with Sun Country.
DL and AS combine.
WN and UA combine.
AA and B6 combine.
@ Tim — I heard Airlines for America (ie, American, Delta, United, et al) had just order a case of knee pads from Gavin Newsom. They are heading over to the WH for the weekend. Oil prices aren’t THAT high, nor have they been elevated for THAT long. Airlines need to suck it up and deal with it. NO AIRLINE BAILOUTS.
Lady,
you do realize that AS and DL both operate hubs at SEA?
You also realize that UA and WN have the most overlap by metro area?
Why do you think that carriers will merge with their largest competitor?
AA and B6 strategically make the most sense but they are both financial basket cases.
@Tim Dunn — AA did not say at all.
@Gene — No bailouts without meaningful worker and consumer protections (US261)
So AA has come out as the adult in the room and stated the obvious: that no one in their right mind would let them merge with United. By doing so, they are also reaffirming the reason they let Kirby go: basically, while they think he’s smart, he’s also a bit erratic and delusional. Touche!
While this is almost certainly just a ploy for United to look better by taking over JetBlue after “reconsidering” an AA/UA merger, American should have taken the bait. If the deal didn’t go through, American would get a fat breakup bonus and if it somehow did go through then as soon as a sane administration arrives in a couple of years or so, AA is broken free but without much of the debt they stupidly accrued.
Maybe Scott Kirby wasn’t paying close enough attention to the calendar re: April Fools
@DesertGhost — “And you’ve been the CEO of how many airlines?” /s
I see AA making a play for B6 before UA does. While it could solve AA’s BOS and NYC problems the question would be what would they have to give up at BOS, JFK, MIA and FLL to get approval?
George,
you realize that AA has almost as much debt as DL and UA COMBINED; they are in absolutely no position to acquire anyone.
and chapter 11 does nothing for AA or B6′ debt because it is almost entirely secured by airplanes and other assets; ifyou want to reduce debt you get rid of the assets and shrink the airline – exactly what is happening at NK
The Administration should put a quash on this ridiculous idea. POTUS has plenty on his plate and was a total disaster trying to run an airline.
A merger would be horrible news for travelers.
Delta taking over American would be a disaster for Delta. While the Delta/NWA merger was one of the largest corporate mergers in the transportation sectors, it wasn’t without some angst by the NWA (and Delta) folks. The NWA people were reluctant to acquiesce to Delta’s employee centered and family model. To their credit, each division sat down and came up with a “best practices” model. We will either adopt the Delta way or the NWA way. There were very few merging of practices. The planes flew with segregated crews for a long time and, as a passenger, many of us could tell which crew (NWA or DAL) was working the flight. I noted that the NWA folks were particularly hostile and, I’m sure they were “scared” about Delta’s corporate employee/family centric philosophy. I think that the first profit sharing check they got effectively quashed their hostility. Now days, when I fly, I don’t know and don’t care if the flight crews are NWA or Delta. They are all nice! The AA folks are openly hostile to everything and every one. I read, somewhere, that Delta’s CEO once said that (and I have to paraphrase) that “…a new employee can be brilliant and competent in their job, however if they can’t assimilate into Delta’s family culture, they will not be successful at Delta.” I think he must be right. That $10.2 BILLION dollar profit sharing last Valentine’s Day should prove that.