Could Fort Worth-based American Airlines actually merge with United?
American Airlines celebrated its 100th birthday April 15, and this year marks 47 years since the airline moved to Fort Worth from New York. But could the end of American as we know it be near?
This week, Reuters reported that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby floated the idea of a merger with American during a meeting with President Donald Trump in February.
American is the second largest airline in the U.S. by market share behind Delta Airlines, and United is fourth behind Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, though there’s a relatively small gap between first and fourth place. But American ranks far behind Delta and United in terms of profitability.
American reported a net profit of $111 million for 2025, down from $846 million in 2024. By comparison, Delta reported a net profit of $5 billion in 2025, and United’s net profit was $3 billion last year.
Spokespeople for American and United declined to comment when asked about Kirby’s pitch. Kirby joined United in 2016 as president after serving in the same role at American.
Under Kirby’s leadership, United now touts itself as the largest airline in the world, with more than 100,000 employees, serving more than 380 worldwide destinations. Likewise, American employs more than 100,000 people, but it serves slightly fewer destinations. More than 37,000 American employees are based in North Texas.
American’s largest hub is Dallas-Fort Worth airport, with American accounting for roughly 80% of the commercial traffic at DFW.
Airline merger not ‘out of the realm of possible outcomes’
Airline industry expert Jay Shabat talked about the potential merger in a recorded conversation for Skift’s Airline Weekly publication.
“It’s not entirely out of the realm of possible outcomes,” Shabat said, before adding it “sounds rather fantastical for these two giant airlines to merge.”
On the surface, it would appear a merger between two of the four largest airlines in the U.S. would violate antitrust laws. But, as Shabat pointed out, the Trump administration could look more favorably on a union between United and American than previous administrations.
During an April 7 interview with CNBC, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an airline merger when asked if it could happen. A merger would be subject to regulatory approval, but Duffy said the president “loves to see big deals happen.”
Shabat said rising fuel costs as a result of the war in Iran have reached crisis level for the airlines, and that could be enough to precipitate a merger. And while it could be difficult to overcome regulatory hurdles, Shabat said rail transport offers a glimpse into the what-ifs.
The U.S. railroad industry is dominated by four main players: Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern. Each company commands profit margins of around 40%, Shabat said, about four times higher than what a commercial airline could hope for even under the best circumstances. Right now, a merger between Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific is pending regulatory approval.
If approved, that merger would signal a shift in thinking when it comes to antitrust laws, making a United-American merger more likely to become reality. The worry then would be what it would mean for ticket prices and if the merger could contribute to a degredation in service.
If it does happen, it wouldn’t be altogether unprecedented. In 2010, United merged with Houston-based Continental Airlines. At the time, United was the third-largest airline in the country based on passenger miles, and Continental was fourth, but both carriers were bleeding money.
That deal passed antitrust scrutiny, but it led to bitter feelings by some longtime Continental employees who were forced to relocate to Chicago, where United is headquartered, as their storied airline was absorbed by a rival.
Three years later, American and U.S. Airways, which was based in Tempe, Arizona, merged, bringing together the fourth- and fifth-largest carriers in the nation.
A 2017 report published by the Eno Center for Transportation said customers had largely benefited from air carrier consolidation over the previous decades. The number of U.S. carriers declined from 38 in 1950 to just nine in 2016, but ticket prices had not risen dramatically as a result, the report said. The research also showed passengers had more available seats and route options, at least in larger markets, despite there being fewer carriers.