There’s not been a lot of news lately about the proposed US Airways merger with bankrupt American Airlines but the move has been making "great progress," according to AMR Corp. (US) CEO Doug Parkter.
American’s push to restructure in bankruptcy as a stand-alone carrier won’t be enough to fix weaknesses at the third-largest U.S. airline, including a loss of market share, Parker has said.
American has said it wants to exit Chapter 11 and then consider a combination by acquiring US.
Parker said US has received "tremendous" support from bondholders and analysts for a merger with American. Such a combination would surpass United parent United Continental Holdings Inc. as the world’s largest airline based on passenger traffic.
The issue may be simple competitiveness. "A combined US Airways-American could "compete with anybody," Parker said.
By David Wilkening
