David always wins against Goliath!

Hello everyone !

In recent years, the American sky has changed a lot. Airlines are merging en masse, and the long-awaited consolidation is coming.

The major American companies, once numerous and with plethoric services, have shrunk to a trickle, there are now four:

  • American Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • US Airways

These 4 companies concentrate most of the American frequent travelers, but also the biggest Corporate contracts.

There are also so-called Low Cost companies, such as Southwest, JetBlue, AirTran or Spirit.

Then other somewhat lonely companies like Frontier or Virgin America.

As for the majors, they have all recently undergone mergers or are on the verge of consolidation. In chronological order :

  • The Delta Airlines/Northwest Airlines merger in 2009/2010
  • The United / Continental merger, in 2010/2011
  • The American / US Air merger, which should take place at the end of 2013/beginning of 2014

In these mergers, it is always the “big” brand that “eats” the small one. On the other hand, at the management level, it is very different!

  • As part of the United/Continental merger, Continental’s management team is now in charge.
  • And for American / US Air, it will be the US Air team that will lead.

The question is why? What are your opinions ?

Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier Delestre-Levai
Olivier has been into airline blogging since 2010. First a major contributor to the FlyerTalk forum, he created the FlyerPlan website in July 2012, and writes articles with a major echo among airline specialists. He now co-runs the TravelGuys blog with Bertrand, focusing on travel experience and loyalty programs.
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