United Airlines chairman and chief executive Glenn Tilton has long made it known how much he’d like United to merge with another carrier.
Since at least 2005, Tilton has been saying he’d like United to take part in airline consolidation, mentioning the topic in many of his public speeches.
Most recently, Tilton has been saying that the company is “in a very good position to participate” in airline-industry consolidation, “as we see fit.”
And while Tilton was once almost a lone wolf in his position, a number of other airline CEOs are also now spouting the virtues of consolidation, with Delta and Northwest already taking the plunge.
United’s recent efforts to aggressively pursue a partnership aren’t the first such effort by the carrier.
United in 2000 attempted to merge with US Airways, a deal that eventually fell apart. The Denver Post
