United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby in a Monday morning
statement acknowledged that he did approach American Airlines about
"exploring a combination," but that "they declined to engage and
instead responded by publicly closing the door."
About two weeks ago, reports swirled that Kirby had spoken
with U.S. government officials about a merger between the two mega airlines.
Responses to the proposed deal, particularly for corporate travel, noted that approval
barriers remained high and that it would upend the market.
Neither airline would comment on the reports, until April
17, when American in a statement denied that it was in merger talks with
United, saying it was not "engaged with or interested in any discussions
regarding a merger with United Airlines." Instead, the carrier's focus
would be on "executing on our strategic objectives and positioning
American to win for the long term."
Kirby's Monday statement noted that he approached American
"because I thought we could do something incredible for customers
together. … I was confident that this combination, which would have been about
adding and not subtracting, creating a truly great airline that customers love,
could get regulatory approval."
Reasons Kirby gave for the merger included growth for
international markets as well as smaller communities, more value by
"dramatically increas[ing] the total number of economy seats in the
marketplace, an internationally competitive airline that could help erase the
trade deficit with foreign-flagged carriers, and a boost for the U.S. economy
that would "create millions of jobs and revitalize and strengthen the U.S.
aircraft manufacturing industry."
"While divestitures in certain domestic markets
obviously would have been required, I believe regulators would have approved
such a deal because they would have recognized the benefits to customers, our
shared employees and communities from coast-to-coast and around the
world," Kirby said.
When asked for a response, American
referred back to its April 17 statement.
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