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News & Current Events Apr 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM

United Airlines CEO pitched American Airlines combination to US officials, sources say

Posted by The_Stratman

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[deleted] Apr 14, 2026 +1975
[removed]
1975
Khaldara Apr 14, 2026 +623
“By combining our respective strengths I’m confident we can both delay your flight and still find time to physically abuse you!”
623
anon-mally Apr 14, 2026 +98
While charging you lots of money
98
wishnana Apr 14, 2026 +31
And as added bonus, completely mishandling your check-in luggages.
31
JoJackthewonderskunk Apr 14, 2026 +20
>physically abuse you!” Was this united and american or Frontier and Spirit?
20
Select-Expression522 Apr 14, 2026 +33
On United the staff do it, on Spirit the other paying customers do it.
33
sreesid Apr 14, 2026 +9
Oh, United is definitely capable of physical abuse with no help from frontier or spirit.
9
blankarage Apr 14, 2026 +8
More profits when people don’t have any choices!
8
Artele7 Apr 14, 2026 +2
"And even break your guitar while we're at it!"
2
thevillewrx Apr 14, 2026 +3
By your airlines combined I am Captain Airplane! Captain Airplane, he's our hero, Gonna take costs down to zero. He's our greed magnified, And he's fighting on the corporate side.
3
Snagmesomeweaves Apr 14, 2026 +8
*United Fight Club*
8
elonzucks Apr 14, 2026 +24
Too soon (all major airlines announced increased bag fees in the last 10 days or so)
24
pjs32000 Apr 14, 2026 +8
Should be considered illegal price fixing. Every time one airline does something to raise a price, they all copy and raise prices by the exact same amount. This is an industry colluding (nonverbally) to give consumers no alternatives so they can all make more money.
8
elonzucks Apr 14, 2026 +2
Don't worry, they are BFFs with the corrupt administration. Nothing is illegal now. Next up: the purge but rich people have immunity 
2
Financial-Desk-669 Apr 14, 2026 +1420
If you're two companies looking to enter into a corrupt monopoly there is no better time to try than now. I expect we will see alot more of these.
1420
xIllustrious_Passion Apr 14, 2026 +188
I’m shocked we haven’t already
188
PaidUSA Apr 14, 2026 +63
The government has the right to undue it at literally any point basically. So I imagine they don’t want to gamble on getting to 2029 and things getting unwound.
63
cogman10 Apr 14, 2026 +54
It's a right that has rarely been exercised. Basically the last time the US has applied anti-trust law was in 1984 to AT&T. It's a lot harder to get a merger approved.
54
Northern-Canadian Apr 14, 2026 +17
Doesn’t seem that difficult. Big companies are gobbling up everything.
17
LazamairAMD Apr 14, 2026 +3
The AT&T anti-trust legal saga started LONG before the 1984 breakup.
3
Fallouttgrrl Apr 14, 2026 +51
They just can't believe their luck
51
jst4wrk7617 Apr 14, 2026 +16
There’s been a lot. All of the media consolidations. Capital One bought Discover. Happening all over healthcare but that’s been the case for a decade now.
16
RoarOfTheWorlds Apr 14, 2026 +44
I hear a first annual United-American Golden Honorary Pilot Award ceremony brewing.
44
[deleted] Apr 14, 2026 +13
[deleted]
13
Tiafves Apr 14, 2026 +5
Nah just paint his face on one in gold and he'll assume he owns it, then forget about it soon after you no longer need him bribed. Much cheaper.
5
dcoats69 Apr 14, 2026 +3
Just give him the united-american peace prize and its for sure getting approved
3
thediesel26 Apr 14, 2026 +3
It’s been the way of the industry since Reagan deregulated the it. Ironically enough price controls/govt subsidies allowed for far more competition in the airline industry primarily because it’s prohibitively expensive to actually run an airline. In a deregulated environment the only way to survive is to scale and the easiest way to do that is merge. And airlines still mostly lose money flying people around. They only make money on their credit cards. And the crazy thing is every airline exec knew this would happen, and many actively lobbied against deregulation. Believe the CEO one of the big airlines took out a full page ad in the New York Times against deregulation saying that it would lead to consolidation and price hikes, and of course he was right.
3
AEW_SuperFan Apr 14, 2026 +2
You gotta cut in the Trumps tho.  There hasn't been major blocks on monopolies since the early 2000s.
2
Skensis Apr 14, 2026 +244
It always shocked me how small these companies are by market cap. And how impactful they are for the half of Americans who fly.
244
Mirikado Apr 14, 2026 +27
Yeah airlines are not a good investment. They have razor thin margins due to competition so any oil shock (like the one we currently have) will f*** the entire industry overnight. There also aren’t any big innovations or disruptors in the airline space for decades so there’s no excitement for people to start putting money into airlines.
27
No_Koala9474 Apr 14, 2026 +38
Funny you mention this. Up until the last decade, more equity had been cumulatively lost in airlines than made. Warren Buffett used to joke that investors should have shot down the Wright Brothers plane to save capital.
38
Atlas3141 Apr 14, 2026 +181
Competition is so fierce that there's hardly any profit in it for the Airlines, without their credit cards they couldn't sustain fares as low as they are.
181
Snlxdd Apr 14, 2026 +79
Competition isn’t even that fierce necessarily. A lot of companies have effective monopolies on certain routes/locations. But consumers are incredibly price sensitive. You can’t just raise prices to the roof because then nobody flies and you can’t afford your planes.
79
blofly Apr 14, 2026 +103
Gosh, I hope the C-level employees will be ok.
103
OSUBonanza Apr 14, 2026 +33
Will someone please think of the stock options
33
JokicHorse Apr 14, 2026 +7
I find that very hard to believe considering ryanair charges like 5 cents for a ticket
7
Revolution-SixFour Apr 14, 2026 +17
You can read all about RyanAir's business model and it's certainly not just benevolence. They fly a single airplane type, streamlining a ton of maintenance and certification. They fly to random airports that have much lower airport fees. Then they charge you for literally everything so that you end up paying more in fees than the ticket.
17
j1308s Apr 14, 2026 +16
It’s also bc they’re horribly managed bc they know they’ll get bailed out over and over when they fail.
16
luvdadrafts Apr 14, 2026 +9
Even if you can get bailed out, it’s not very profitable to be marginally profitable 
9
Electrical-Volume765 Apr 14, 2026 +23
Not enough people understand this. Like there’s some gene in the American brain that thinks you should be able to fly from LA to Cleveland for $50 and get a $60 steak dinner on the way there. The amount of energy it takes to move you across the country in four hours, much less do it safely? It’s crazy. With those “ultra low cost carriers”, you can fly way cheaper than you can drive. There’s something inherently wrong with that on a burning planet.
23
telly69 Apr 14, 2026 +16
Flying with 200 other people is more energy efficient and should absolutely be cheaper than driving.
16
dgriletz Apr 14, 2026 +33
Flying generally has less energy and maintenance costs on a per passenger basis though. Break even is carpooling with 3+ passengers. Flying economy *should* be cheaper than driving most of the time. 
33
Old_Front7166 Apr 14, 2026 +5
People say this very often but I don't believe it. Can you provide evidence?
5
Revolution-SixFour Apr 14, 2026 +8
Is it enough evidence that they all go bankrupt about once every two decades? Is there any other industry where that's common?
8
Lighthouse_seek Apr 14, 2026 +18
Their operating margins are available every quarter
18
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +338
Such a combined airline would have 1/3 of the US market share and help to consolidate the East Coast with American’s and United’s hubs: Newark (EWR), Washington Dulles (IAD), Charlotte (CLT), Miami (MIA), New York Kennedy (JFK), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Reagan National (DCA). This would mean every major airport in New York and DC (no one counts BWI) would be part of this major airline’s grasp. The only major eastern cities with hubs missing are Atlanta and Boston.
338
ill0gitech Apr 14, 2026 +106
1/3 market share you say? That sounds like something the FTC and DOJ would want to review. Now you could pitch a patriotic name like United American Airlines, but if you want fast approval, call the new entity “Trump Airlines”. Instant approval
106
SunKing124266 Apr 14, 2026 +40
That would be so insane but it just might happen 
40
--zaxell-- Apr 14, 2026 +14
Wouldn't that infringe on the trademark of Trump Shuttle, founded 1989? I haven't heard about it lately, but given the business genius at the helm, it's surely still around today; it's not like it would operate at a -35% margin and go bankrupt after two years.
14
ehisforadam Apr 14, 2026 +6
Just have to make a few million dollar donation to the Trump library or Epstein ballroom to get it approved.
6
Jahkmi-Hoff Apr 14, 2026 +4
United States of American Airlines Brought to You by The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
4
sight_ful Apr 14, 2026 +2
Trump airlines was actually bought by usair which merged with american.
2
goonSquad15 Apr 14, 2026 +112
No one counts BWI but they should. Great airport
112
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +34
It’s just too far compared to National and Dulles for the population. It’s also not a hub.
34
ZonaDesertRat Apr 14, 2026 +57
Don't tell Southwest that BWI isn't a hub! They'll dispatch a row of Karen's to sit next to you.
57
omjy18 Apr 14, 2026 +3
Thats how I got to and from colorado over the winter because the only ri to colorado was midway and if it snowed at all it shut down the like the week and we know Chicago never gets snow in winter.....
3
goonSquad15 Apr 14, 2026 +21
It’s easier to get to DC from BWI than Dulles. It’s a SW hub however that’s becoming less and less useful
21
dfinberg Apr 14, 2026 +27
This might have been true 10 years ago, but is obviously wrong nowadays with the silver line. It’s on the metro…
27
Miserable_Archer_769 Apr 14, 2026 +9
Do you know how long it actually takes to get to Dulles using a metro lol? For most its like 15+ stops  There is no easy metro stops for anyone in DC/MD. It takes about over an hour from from Union station  Everyone hates Dulles and it relatively has the same foot traffic around 27 million despite being a much smaller air port
9
dfinberg Apr 14, 2026 +12
Yes, metro needs express trains which will never happen. But still, it’s very easy, even if not the fastest. Compared to a bus to the Marc to Union station to somewhere on the metro.
12
Miserable_Archer_769 Apr 14, 2026 +2
Its not about ease when that neglects alot of other factors. OK sure alot of things are easier using that logic but people have a line where your time is still important and the fact is nobody wants to ride for 2.5 hours. I also have to get in my car anyway for the most of these scenarios. It just seems like you have a unique situation and arent thinking of literally everything/everyone else in the DMV and how unrealistic that is.  Also if im going to Dulles your usually going international compared to other airports why in the world would I want to make that effort to take the metro with that kind of luggage.
2
gophergun Apr 14, 2026 +6
2.5 hours? It's about an hour to Union for both BWI and Dulles, but the difference is that the MARC has way less frequent service, especially on weekends. It's a matter of waiting five minutes or waiting as long as two hours for the train.
6
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +5
It may be closer by miles, but its major airline is shooting itself in the foot, and I can’t see an airline with control of DCA and IAD not making BWI into the hands of the budget airlines even more. I could also see a Delta takeover to keep their presence in the region.
5
Erigion Apr 14, 2026 +3
BWI would need a huge expansion to accept more Delta flights. Not to mention stuff like lounge and baggage handling. If this stupid, anti-competitive merger happens I can see both united and AA giving up some s**** in some fake appeasement to get it through the regulatory process. Delta might accept it because it might be better to be 1 of 2 instead of 1 of 3. In any case, stupid AA for failing at life
3
goonSquad15 Apr 14, 2026 +3
Yeah I used to fly SW a bit since they went where we needed direct but the recent changes have made that tough. Would love delta to use it as a focus city
3
FeeHot5876 Apr 14, 2026 +14
Yeah that’s about as wrong as you can be
14
mshab356 Apr 14, 2026 +2
By metro? Because definitely not by driving. Dulles to DC is 30 mins straight shot on the toll road to 66. BWI is generally longer and traffic on 495/95 is way worse usually.
2
goonSquad15 Apr 14, 2026 +2
95 is usually a breeze for me. 495 sucks sure but leaving Dulles is the worst
2
mshab356 Apr 14, 2026 +2
Odd, I never have issues leaving Dulles. BWI on the other hand it’s a pain to get to DC/Arlington from there. Dulles shorter and easier. I mean yea rush hour traffic at 5pm would suck but it’s not that bad imo.
2
DogsAreOurFriends Apr 14, 2026 +7
It’s a Southwest “hub”
7
wabashcanonball Apr 14, 2026 +3
Dulles is the one that takes forever to get to/from.
3
BarcelonaFan Apr 14, 2026 +12
Wouldn’t this consolidate ORD as well ?
12
cubsgirl101 Apr 14, 2026 +24
It would. Southwest essentially got squeezed out of O’Hare because United and American have the overwhelming majority of flights.
24
anandonaqui Apr 14, 2026 +5
Southwest is already pulling out of ORD: https://simpleflying.com/southwest-airlines-layoff-100-employees-chicago-ohare-exit/
5
IAmTheM4ilm4n Apr 14, 2026 +7
Hmm - the FAA is looking at restricting the number of flights at O'Hare, and United and American are bickering over it. Wonder if that has anything to do with a "merger idea". https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5775899/faa-flight-cuts-chicago-ohare-airport
7
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +4
It would
4
vman3241 Apr 14, 2026 +5
United plus American would immediately become the largest airline at Logan since JetBlue has 27 gates while AA has 18 and United has 11
5
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +5
True, neither currently count it as a hub but if the merger did occur, I imagine they would
5
FireWrath9 Apr 14, 2026 +4
I mean Delta and Jetblue are both competitive in new york and southwest is doing ok at BWI.
4
WashuOtaku Apr 14, 2026 +3
If mergers of the past are any indication, a couple of those cities will loose HUB status in such a merger.
3
telly69 Apr 14, 2026 +2
No one counts the busiest airport in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area?
2
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +2
It’s not a hub for any of the 3 major airlines; primarily caters to budget airlines; it’s closer to Baltimore than it is to Washington; its primary tenant is acting like they want to kill the company; and National and Dulles are closer to DC or the suburbs that have experienced an explosion in population, especially Dulles.
2
friedflounder12 Apr 15, 2026 +2
BWI is 100% more preferable than driving to f****** Dulles. Also a better airport experience
2
SarahArabic2 Apr 14, 2026 +2
and Detroit (DTW). but thats delta
2
Classic93 Apr 14, 2026 +287
In 5-10 years there will be only 1-2 airlines in the US. They can set the prices as high as they want. Surely they can somehow implement some subscription based model as well, as everything moves in that direction.
287
yawara25 Apr 14, 2026 +144
Maybe The Onion was right all along... https://theonion.com/just-six-corporations-remain-1819564741/
144
iEatChunkyChipsAhoy Apr 14, 2026 +74
From 1998!
74
EmbarrassedRing7806 Apr 14, 2026 +11
You can tell because > MCI-WorldCom and Bank One-Chase Manhattan merged in a blockbuster $112 billion deal Monday, forming the world’s largest telecommunications/banking company and reducing the number of existing corporations to six. $112 billion. Hah. You got human beings worth multiple times that much now.
11
bearbrannan Apr 14, 2026 +60
30 years later and were legit one merger away from Paramount, Viacom, ABC, Disney being a real thing.... 
60
itsshockingreally Apr 14, 2026 +63
The closing line on that article is too real even almost 30 years later "A spokesperson for the newly formed Bank One-Chase Manhattan-MCI-WorldCom said the company plans to cut 92,000 jobs this month."
63
ill0gitech Apr 14, 2026 +18
Wetland-Yutani, Umbrella, InGen, Vought, LexCorp, and Disney-Coke-Bayer
18
wabashcanonball Apr 14, 2026 +9
Right now we're at 11.
9
Thrashtendo Apr 14, 2026 +3
I was gonna say, then Amazon can buy United-American Airlines, then Apple can buy that combined thing, then Google can buy that big thing, and then a giant fish comes out and eats if all in one gulp. But The Onion’s was much funnier.
3
couchjitsu Apr 14, 2026 +12
It'll be Dear Leader Air
12
sreesid Apr 14, 2026 +3
Who knew Trump airlines was making a come back in the form of United and American merger.
3
VincentVazzo Apr 14, 2026 +7
>In 5-10 years there will be only 1-2 airlines in the US. And all restaurants will be Taco Bell!
7
PunchNessie Apr 14, 2026 +3
When all airlines become Taco Bell because of the great Fast Food and Airline war of 2052.
3
antiramie Apr 14, 2026 +1
Cool, stop flying and/or vote for more progressive candidates. Consumers can put a stop to this and simply choose the option of continuing to get bent over with prices.
1
mannyman34 Apr 14, 2026 +13
Americans are the worst consumers when it comes to voting with their wallet.
13
EmbarrassedRing7806 Apr 14, 2026 +2
What does voting with your wallet even mean when it comes to flying? Ticket prices are pretty damn reasonable.
2
Snlxdd Apr 14, 2026 +5
Prices are pretty c**** all else considered. Airlines are hardly the shining example of exorbitant profits.
5
Salt_Abrocoma_4688 Apr 14, 2026 +38
Real life monopoly! Yay for consumers! /s
38
TheKingInTheNorth Apr 14, 2026 +9
I mean, a combined United and American sounds nightmarish to me and I’d still mostly pay for the delta experience when I can.
9
gmwdim Apr 14, 2026 +6
Until Delta merges with Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, and Spirit.
6
cakedbythepound Apr 14, 2026 +88
There are currently 4 major carriers—-Delta, American, United and Southwest. If this were to happen there would be 2. The industry is a basically a monopoly and air travel is gonna become even more expensive.
88
flume Apr 14, 2026 +15
So Southwest would stop being a major carrier?
15
sofixa11 Apr 14, 2026 +5
If they fall behind too much (because of the potential merger's extra market and power, or them redoing their business model for the worse), yes.
5
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +25
If this occurred, I see Delta merging with Alaska air group since that would grant a better control over the west
25
im_thatoneguy Apr 14, 2026 +13
Too much overlap. Delta already serves a majority of the Alaska routes since they both have a SEA hub.
13
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +2
Would a West Coast fortress like ATL be in Delta's best interest?
2
Realtrain Apr 14, 2026 +8
Delta already has SLC for that.
8
Iron_Chancellor_ND Apr 14, 2026 +34
Alaska and American are already joined at the hip with the OneWorld alliance. If Alaska is on the table for acquisition, it's probably coming from American.
34
The_Stratman Apr 14, 2026 +10
Possible, but airlines have been acquired from another alliance. It’s European, but the Italian flag carrier, ITA, was purchased by Lufthansa, which is in the Star Alliance, and left their previous alliance, SkyTeam.
10
xgbsss Apr 14, 2026 +21
American is too financially weak to pull it off. What I can see happening is some reverse takeover, where it's American in name, but really Alaska. Similar to US Airways. Alaska has a great West-coast hub that American lacks in Seattle and is fiscally much stronger.
21
Iron_Chancellor_ND Apr 14, 2026 +11
>What I can see happening is some reverse takeover, where it's American in name, but really Alaska. Similar to US Airways. Exactly what happened when Norwest Bank acquired Wells-Fargo, too.
11
biggsteve81 Apr 14, 2026 +3
And when NationsBank bought Bank of America.
3
EmbarrassedRing7806 Apr 14, 2026 +3
Math isnt ur strong suit is it And air travel is not expensive
3
froman-dizze Apr 14, 2026 +89
Two garbage fires combine to make one garbage inferno
89
ZonaDesertRat Apr 14, 2026 +12
This is the only way to describe this merger.
12
Korietsu Apr 14, 2026 +32
Yeah, I'm gonna need the next democratic president to really start trust busting and regulating.
32
Right_Jello_7266 Apr 14, 2026 +2
Someone go dig up teddy.
2
awkwardIRL Apr 14, 2026 +4
You're going to get the next centrist slop the party serves you and youre going to like it, damnit I say that as a joke of course. We won't like it but it's better than whatever the other side is cooking
4
Bosfordjd Apr 14, 2026 +35
Sounds like they need to be nationalized.
35
dichron Apr 14, 2026 +9
One’s already got “American” in its name and the other just needs “States” added
9
Allison87 Apr 14, 2026 +6
I’m sure the Trump administration will see the negative impact of this and act accordingly.
6
trainwreck84 Apr 14, 2026 +21
The enshittification Will continue until morale improves.
21
eric_ts Apr 14, 2026 +5
Their customer service will be so bad that they will require every passenger to buy a guitar for them to break.
5
drethnudrib Apr 14, 2026 +4
"combination" is a hell of a way to interpret blatant antitrust violation.
4
supadupanerd Apr 14, 2026 +9
We can't compete with Delta:s combination of better overall service standards and management
9
66stang351 Apr 14, 2026 +3
as a delta diehard its' service has also taken a nose dive over the last 5-6 years
3
TintedApostle Apr 14, 2026 +9
The future in the US is 1) The Cable company 2) The Airline 3) The movie company 4) The delivery company 5) The data center company 6) The house company 7) The food company 8) The taxi company Unfettered capitalism has one crushing goal.
9
LunarMoon2001 Apr 14, 2026 +8
Massive donations to trump family will get this passed.
8
Odd-Donut300 Apr 14, 2026 +3
Why are they using the word ‘combine’ instead of merger?
3
CommanderArcher Apr 14, 2026 +12
Just nationalize them at that point.  Give the CEOs a modest payout of a pizza party and a best buy gift card, thank them for their time and show them the door.  A reminder to those that forgor that Monopolies are BAD
12
WHEENC Apr 14, 2026 +5
Well, we’ve paid for them already. Start with airlines, move to utilities and then the final boss, for profit healthcare.
5
Low-Invite2647 Apr 14, 2026 +3
No-one can stop them now
3
cribsaw Apr 14, 2026 +3
“Combination” is a weird way to say merger.
3
RelevantDress Apr 14, 2026 +3
Think of the guitars we could break together!
3
thejwillbee Apr 14, 2026 +3
I hope they do a merging of the names to become "Airlines Airlines"
3
ikickittoyou Apr 14, 2026 +5
Rephrasing merger to combination is weak ass word play to avoid monopoly accusations. It's not going to work.
5
Relevant-Doctor187 Apr 14, 2026 +5
Just no. We have had enough mergers.
5
ravenecw2 Apr 14, 2026 +2
The pitch? Rename both companies to the United States of America Airlines
2
maxsamm Apr 14, 2026 +2
I mean if all the companies are just going to buy each other let’s speed run it and either nationalize it or let them buy whole states.
2
snowcat0 Apr 14, 2026 +2
Please no, but under the current administration it may just take a gold trinket to get approval….
2
MallardRider Apr 14, 2026 +2
Watch your airfares go up. When Delta can only compete with one major US international airline, they will have little pressure to d******* their airfares
2
0098six Apr 14, 2026 +2
I don't fly US carriers if I can help it. Especially getting overseas. Airlines from Europe, Africa, Asia and Middle East are almost universally better. Once you try any of these airlines, you come to realize how awful US carriers are.
2
WatchmanVimes Apr 14, 2026 +4
United is one of the worst airlines and it wants to combine with the worst?
4
toastmannn Apr 14, 2026 +3
Shocking. All the biggest companies in every industry are Chomping at the bit right now desperate to consolidate and buy each while we have the most corrupt administration in American history. Trump isn't going to do f*** all except take personal bribes and everyone knows it.
3
infinite_throw_away Apr 14, 2026 +3
This a******: Wouldn't things be better with fewer airlines? Anyone who has even seen a plane: No, f*** you!
3
DaMountainBear Apr 14, 2026 +2
Has anyone else noticed the amount of mergers during the trump administrations? We are witnessing the most corrupt organization in anyone’s lifetime
2
beartheminus Apr 14, 2026 +3
If this goes though yet Spirit and JetBlue wasn't allowed, Ill know for sure that the DOJ is corrupt
3
FinancialAide3383 Apr 14, 2026 +2
It will be a let’s take our worst practices and execute!
2
dr_snepper Apr 14, 2026 +2
AA tried this already with jetblue and the deal was killed. and i know this because i lost points on a AA-JB combined flight back in 2023. but of course, that happened before this hell administration so who knows. it might actually come to fruition. unfortunately.
2
CrazyBeggarXXXVI Apr 14, 2026 +1
Wonder, twins activate United: form of horrible flying experience. America: form of even worst flying experience.
1
SoftlySpokenPromises Apr 14, 2026 +1
Only if they're willing to nationalize. One company should not have this amount of power.
1
gotohellwithsuperman Apr 14, 2026 +1
What is it about being CEO of a company called United that makes one unrepentant garbage?
1
im_thatoneguy Apr 14, 2026 +1
Nothing will justify another Atlanta but it’s pretty significant because it serves China, Japan, India, Korea, and Hawaii well. Hence their massive investment in Seattle. LAX and SFO are the only other real options and they’re both shitshows.
1
commandedbydemons Apr 14, 2026 +1
"bro, we could double the prices are nobody could do anything about it"
1
Kakashimoto77 Apr 14, 2026 +1
They could call themselves the United States of American Airlines.
1
Jonathan_Deaux Apr 14, 2026 +1
These asshats looked at the railroads and figured they would shoot their shot
1
whk1992 Apr 14, 2026 +1
Alaska is gonna lose a partner.
1
Ripplerfish Apr 14, 2026 +1
Was the combo 1, 2, 3, 4?
1
ouisewoo Apr 14, 2026 +1
Lmfao not that I ever flew them but now I will take any flight on any airline no matter the delay
1
RottenPingu1 Apr 14, 2026 +1
I wonder what their balance sheets look like. I'm three months behind but I predicted an airline will go Chapter 11 from reduced international demand and a stagnant economy.
1
Lorbmick Apr 14, 2026 +1
Think of the golden parachutes we’d get.
1
ncc74656m Apr 14, 2026 +1
United Airlines should be dragged out behind the building and taken care of. Just a bizarrely and unnecessarily evil company.
1
Lighthouse_seek Apr 14, 2026 +1
This isn't going to happen. My guess is he said this to soften the reception towards them buying jetblue
1
WrongTurn1998 Apr 14, 2026 +2
I think back to the FCC stopping Frontier from acquiring Spirit. I think that would have worked.
2
dumpln Apr 14, 2026 +1
Why don’t we just combine all of them and call them trump airlines?
1
claytonbeaufield Apr 14, 2026 +1
Probably will happen, but this can only be bad for consumers.
1
namideus Apr 14, 2026 +1
Holy monopoly, Batman!
1
mattv911 Apr 14, 2026 +1
FTC would never let it happen
1
sneakywombat87 Apr 14, 2026 +1
American Airlines is my least favorite carrier on the planet. No airline is perfect but United is much much much better than AA. This would be a catastrophic merger that would destroy United. Imho. This is just my viewpoint as a customer. In UA Gold, not a huge status and regularly bounce between silver from year to year. So I don’t fly a ton but it’s more than a little. This feels like an enshitification of a good thing.
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HappyCaterpillar2409 Apr 14, 2026 +1
Even fewer options would be great!
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LittleManOnACan Apr 14, 2026 +1
I have no doubt the United Flights of America ^TM would be grossly corrupt
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Gone213 Apr 14, 2026 +1
United is that desperate to be the only hub at ohare then huh.
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Humble-Plankton2217 Apr 14, 2026 +1
There's not enough competition as it is. Monopolies are alive and well in the USA, all because politicians are allowed to be purchased by corporations. As of early 2026, the U.S. airline industry is dominated by four major holding companies—American, Delta, Southwest, and United—which control roughly 70–80% of domestic passenger traffic. While there are 18–19 major carriers with over $1 billion in revenue and dozens of smaller regional/cargo operators, the industry is heavily consolidated, with top carriers often managed by the same institutional investors.
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