United Airlines CEO Explored Mergers With Delta and American Airlines, Both Declined
Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United Airlines, floated the idea of a merger with Delta Air Lines and even called the rival carrier’s CEO, Ed Bastian, to discuss the proposal, with the Atlanta-based airline carrying out early due diligence on the potential merger before ultimately ruling it out. The revelations came to light in a new article from the Wall Street Journal. The news comes just months after Kirby reportedly lobbied the Trump administration about a potential merger between United Airlines and American Airlines, with United being the dominant partner. The timing of events, though, is perhaps most interesting. Kirby had floated the idea of a merger with American Airlines in April of this year, but the discussions with Delta took place months before, at some point in 2025, the WSJ reports. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United form the so-called US3 – The three biggest airline groups in the US aviation industry. Together, they command a combined domestic market share of around 52% based on 2025 data. While industry analysts believe further consolidation (read: mergers and acquisitions) in the U.S. airline industry is a foregone conclusion, the idea of two of the US3 merging has long been considered off the table due to antitrust concerns. Now, however, we know that Kirby has approached both of United’s biggest rivals in an attempt to create a mega-airline that would control over a third of the U.S. domestic market. Consolidation in the near future is likely to be driven by rising fuel prices, with smaller airlines either merging or allowing themselves to be acquired by a bigger rival in order to survive. Kirby, however, says he isn’t interested in buying smaller airlines in a piecemeal approach to inorganic growth. Earlier this year, Kirby rejected the idea of acquiring JetBlue because of concerns about the company’s debt levels. He had, instead, set out a public vision to merge with American Airlines to create what he described as “the very best” airline in the world. Unlike Delta, however, American Airlines didn’t even entertain the proposal and “declined to engage" United in discussions before “publicly closing the door,” in a filing to the stock market. Kirby clearly has very big ambitions. The kind of ambitions that would have been unthinkable under the Biden administration, which swiftly moved to block a merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines over fears it would harm competition. That court victory ultimately led to the demise of Spirit Airlines. The thinking is that the current administration would be much more amenable to a mega merger between two of the US3, although President Trump said he didn’t like the idea of United and American Airlines merging. Delta has a market capitalization of roughly $48.18 billion, leaving United Airlines trailing behind with a market cap of around $39.32 billion. That would, of course, make United the smaller player in any potential merger between the two carriers. So, what would Kirby have to personally gain from this kind of deal? After all, it certainly feels like Kirby has no plans on retiring any time soon. Perhaps, as the broker of the deal, he would hope to stay on as chief executive of the combined company, sidelining Ed Bastian from the role he has held for nearly a decade. This kind of speculation, however, can remain just that, given that Kirby’s preferred consolidation vision has been rejected by both of his suitors.