Until last night, United which combined with Continental in 2010, was the nation's largest airline (surpassing Delta which had merged with Northwest some two years earlier). This morning this changed when the previously disclosed merger between US Airways and bankrupt American Airlines, was formally announced. The resulting airline, with some 26% of the market share is now the nation's largest legacy carrier, bigger than United at 19.3%, Delta with 19.2%, and discounted Southwest with 18.2%. Below are some of the key highlights of this brand new airline behemoth. And just like that, taxpayers now eagerly await the bailout of United South-American Deltawest Airlines in 2-3 years: the first Too Big To Take Off airline.
Airlines at a snapshot:
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Broken down by passengers and fleets:
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The combined pro forma hub structure:
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Pilot labor costs compared between the various airlines:
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There is limited overlap in LCC-AMR routes:
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And the combined LCC-AMR fleet which will have over 1000 planes at day 1.
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Finally, for those who enjoy learning through cartoons, here is the WSJ charting the evolution of the US airline space, and how we ended up with the Big 4.
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