Report: United Airlines CEO Approached Delta About Mega-Merger Last Year

Last year’s report that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby pitched a potential merger with American Airlines sent shockwaves through the aviation sector. Now, a bombshell report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Kirby’s outreach didn’t stop with American.

According to the report, Kirby personally approached Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian last year to discuss a potential mega-merger between the two giant carriers. Delta reportedly evaluated the overture and conducted preliminary due diligence, but ultimately decided against pursuing formal negotiations.

Together, Delta and United accounted for more than 90% of total U.S. airline industry profits last year. A combination of the two giants would have created a $100 billion mega-carrier controlling roughly 50% of the U.S. domestic aviation market.

Any tie-up between members of the “Big Three”—Delta, United, and American—would face massive legal hurdles from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Antitrust scrutiny was the ultimate undoing of JetBlue’s attempt to acquire Spirit Airlines in 2024.

While President Trump has previously signaled openness to consolidation among smaller regional or mid-sized carriers, the Justice Department has shown no indication it would clear a transaction of this historic scale.

Kirby’s vision for the American tie-up centered on what he described as a “global trade deficit” in aviation. He argued that foreign-flagged carriers currently dominate long-haul travel into the U.S. and that a combined United-American entity would have the necessary scale to reclaim leadership. It’s likely he had the same thinking with the Delta pitch.

Had either merger moved forward, advisors would have faced massive hub realignments, potential capacity cuts, and major overhauls to loyalty programs (SkyMiles and MileagePlus), along with agency distribution agreements.

Advisors might not have to worry. At the IATA annual general meeting in early June, Kirby publicly acknowledged that major consolidation for United is effectively off the table for the foreseeable future.