American Airlines put to rest days of intense speculation late Friday by saying it has no interest in merging with rival United.
“American Airlines is not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines,” the carrier said in a statement. “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 [Trump] 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,” the airline added.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that United CEO Scott Kirby pitched the idea of a linkup with American directly to President Donald Trump in February. The news stunned many in the airline industry, including some analysts who said they saw virtually no way for such a deal to clear the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust review process.
Supporters, however, seized on comments made by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about a week before the news broke indicating that the federal government is open to mergers in the airline industry, even if they involve the Big Four.
The president “loves to see big deals happen,” Duffy told CNBC.
Neither Duffy nor the Transportation Department have publicly weighed in on talk of an American-United combination.
Prior to Friday, American had also declined to comment.
In its statement, American praised Trump, 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.” It said it looked forward to working with the White House to “strengthen the broader airline industry.”
A merger involving American and United would create the undisputed largest airline in the world, with control over about 34% of the domestic U.S. air travel market. Currently, no single carrier holds more than 18%.
