United took chance for possible merger with Delta last year, ran idea by Bastian

News has emerged that the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, approached the CEO of Delta Air Lines, Scott Bastian, with a proposed merger.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke with people familiar with the matter, Kirby put in a call directly to Bastian to run the idea passed him.

The US newspaper reported that Delta looked at the proposal and conducted “preliminary due diligence” to assess the benefits.

Ultimately the merger never got off the ground, but news of the move perhaps suggests that Kirby saw an opportunity under the Trump administration to make a deal happen.

In comments on April 2026, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, said if a merger between the larger airlines formed, then “they’re going to have to peel off some of their assets”, but a decision would be made on a “case-by-case basis”.

Delta Air LinesHe also added that President Trump, “loves to see big deals happen”.

In April 2026, news broke that Kirby discussed a possible merger with American Airlines with US President Donald Trump during a meet-up at the White House.

Kirby confirmed in a statement on April 27, 2026, that he approached American about exploring a combination, but said the Fort Worth-based carrier declined to engage.

“I approached American about exploring a combination because I thought we could do something incredible for customers together,” Kirby said at the time.

Kirby argued that a larger US carrier could compete more effectively against foreign airlines. Kirby said foreign-flag carriers operate about 65% of long-haul seats into the United States, while foreign citizens account for about 40% of those passengers.

Robin Guess / ShutterstockAmerican said it was not interested in a merger with United and warned that such a deal would be negative for competition and consumers.

Even with a sympathetic Trump administration, it is highly unlikely that a deal between the two largest airlines in the US would have been acceptable.

The proposal would have faced major antitrust questions. In January 2024, a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s planned $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines, finding that the deal would harm competition.

JetBlue and Spirit abandoned the merger in March 2024.

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