United CEO Pitches Airline Merger Like It’s Tinder, Flirting With Trump

KEY POINTS

•United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby floated a merger idea with American Airlines in a meeting with President Trump last month.
•The proposed merger would boost their market share to over 34%, surpassing market leader Delta’s 17.8%.
•Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently said there may be room for airline tie-ups, though no active deal talks are reported.

In what may be the corporate version of ‘slide into the DMs,’ United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby tapped President Trump last month to casually pitch a merger with American Airlines. Their combined market power would soar to over 34%, overshadowing Delta’s measly 17.8% share, effectively creating an aviation mega-beast. This sneak pitch happened amidst the backdrop of DOJ antitrust execs jumping ship after side-eyeing Ticketmaster-Live Nation deals, and Biden’s DOJ thwacked JetBlue’s 8% market share Spirit Airlines merger hard last year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently hinted airlines could still get ‘somethin’ cookin’, so fingers crossed for U-S-A-But-Maybe-Just-United-American! Meanwhile, big airline shares popped Tuesday with no comment, proving the market loves a good Trump-buffered rumor.