United Airlines' CEO confirmed Monday that he approached rival American Airlines about a potential merger — his first public acknowledgment of his proposal — saying it would benefit travelers despite American’s refusal to engage in talks.
“I was confident that this combination, which would have been about adding and not subtracting, creating a truly great airline that customers love, could get regulatory approval,” Scott Kirby wrote in a statement released Monday. “I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door.”
