According to Reuters, the merger concept first surfaced during a late-February White House meeting between Kirby and Trump — a session that had been arranged to address the future of Washington's Dulles airport.
Trump made clear he was opposed to the idea. "I don't like having them merge," he told CNBC, adding that both carriers were already performing well on their own. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also said Kirby would need to do "a little more selling on why it's good for the American consumer," according to Reuters.
In his statement, Kirby argued the deal would have differed from past airline consolidations, which typically involved struggling carriers cutting costs, flights, and headcount. He said a United-American combination would have focused on growth, including expanded international service and routes to smaller communities. He also argued a larger U.S. carrier would help compete against foreign airlines, which he said fly about 65% of long-haul seats into the country despite only 40% of customers being foreign citizens.
Kirby said divestitures in certain domestic markets would have been required but expressed confidence that regulators would have approved the deal. Had the deal gone through, it would have represented a scale of industry consolidation unseen in the United States for over ten years, Reuters noted.
Kirby acknowledged the pursuit has ended. "American's public comments make it clear that a merger like this is off the table for the foreseeable future," he said in the statement.
