Speaking at the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby stated that he does not anticipate further airline consolidation in the U.S. and is not interested in pursuing a merger, especially after American Airlines declined a similar proposal he floated with the Trump Administration earlier this year.
“United’s not going to do a deal just to do a deal,” Kirby said.
When asked about the recent consolidation wave bringing Allegiant and Sun Country together this year, as well as Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines in 2024, Kirby stated that additional mergers seem unlikely.
“It’s a lot harder,” he said. “I’ve been … one of the primary architects of consolidation in the United States. I’ve been around a lot of these deals. It’s hard, and you shouldn’t do deals that don’t make economic sense.”
The CEO’s comments follow a discussion earlier this year, when Kirby talked about possibly merging with American Airlines.
Kirby later stated he hoped a merged airline would compete with major foreign rivals, although some analysts argued that the alliance would encounter insurmountable regulatory obstacles.
A merger “requires support from everyone… We would need the unions, we’d need the customers, the shareholders, the regulators and the management team.”
Regarding a potential AA merger, “we don’t have that, clearly, so we can’t get it done without them,” he concluded,
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
