It’s officially official: American and US Airways merge to create world’s largest airline
Photo Credit: Image of new American Airlines' plane and a US Airways aircraft from the new American's promotional video. American Airlines
Skift Take
OK, that was easy:) The merger sets the stage for a new era in U.S. aviation history as legacy carriers have been whittled down to three. Who's next? Southwest (nah, preoccupied with AirTran at the moment). Alaska Airlines, Frontier, JetBlue?
In the end, US Airways, once famously dismissed as "the ugly girl," wooed bankrupt American Airlines' unions and creditors, and wrangled an $11 billion merger agreement with AMR Corp., announced on Valentine's Day, to create the globe's largest airline.
American Airlines and US Airways officials confirmed this morning they have a "definitive merger agreement under which the companies will combine to create a premier global carrier -- the new American Airlines," and they have scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. EST.
With the airlines' boards and American's creditors committee approving the marriage yesterday, more than 15 months after American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to "achieve industry competitiveness," the announcement was a bit anticlimactic.
The merger, which many believe marks the final consolidation among legacy carriers in the U.S., comes more than two years after then-Continental CEO Jeff Smisek dismissed US Airways as "the ugly g
