United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, joined by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, speaks to reporters outside the White House October 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby discussed the idea of an airline merger with the Trump administration this year, according to people familiar with the matter, although he has been considering a possible airline deal since last fall.
On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that Kirby had floated the idea of a tie-up with American airlines at the White House in February. Some analysts and industry experts have ruled out such a merger, which would create the world’s largest airline, saying the regulatory hurdles would be too high to overcome. United and American declined to comment on the report.
A combination of this magnitude has not been attempted in the United States, although waves of industrial consolidation began about twenty years ago and left the United States, the United States, Delta Airlines And Southwest Airlines controls around 80% of the domestic market share.
But United’s Kirby said the next step for U.S. carriers is to find a way to better compete on the global stage.
“Size would help” to be competitive on flights to the United States, he told the “Stratechery” podcast in an episode that aired in January.
“We have customers who fly United almost all the time or Delta, but when they go to the Middle East, it’s fragmented enough that they fly Emirates,” he said. “If we are bigger and have more offerings for these customers, it might make more sense for them to carry us when they go to the Middle East.”
U.S. airlines have spent years complaining about what they say are unfair government subsidies that some Middle Eastern carriers benefit from. But U.S. carriers have recently partnered with some of these airlines: United now has a partnership with Emirates, American has one with Qatar Airways, and Delta signed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Air in 2024.