The Last of the Legacy Airline Mergers?

Two weeks ago American Airlines and US Airways entered into discussions revolving around a potential merger of the two big carriers.  American is the last of the ‘legacy’ airlines to pursue such talks in the most recent era (2001-present) of major airline consolidation in the United States.

Indeed, it was American Airlines that started it all with the acquisition of Trans World Airlines in 2001.  Since then, America West Airlines bought US Airways (2005), Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest Airlines (2008) and Continental Airlines merged with United Airlines (2010).  The younger Republic Airways purchased Shuttle America (2005) as well as Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines (2009) and Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran (2010).

An American Airlines-US Airways combination would have an extensive domestic and international route network.  While justification for a merger can be found in the argument that the two carriers will be able to compete more effectively with the other mega-carriers if combined, aircraft photographers and aviation enthusiasts will, no doubt, lament the disappearance of yet another airline livery from the skies.

If the two airlines combine, the resulting fleet and any rationalization would be interesting indeed.  The Boeing 737 will eventually dominate American’s fleet while US Airways, which also flies older versions of the 737, operates mostly Airbus products.

Don’t expect to hear much in the near future since the agreement to discuss apparently includes a non-disclosure clause.

(above) US Airways A319-132 N839AW, itself formerly flown by America West, was caught landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport in June 2008.  Initial reports have it that current US Airways aircraft will be painted in American Airlines markings if the two airlines are combined.