United Approached Delta on Merger Last Year
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- United Airlines approached Delta Air Lines about a merger last year that would have combined the two most valuable U.S. carriers, according to people familiar with the matter.
- United CEO Scott Kirby personally called Delta CEO Ed Bastian as part of the pitch for what United characterized as a hunt for a "megadeal."
- Delta CEO Ed Bastian did not advance the discussions; the WSJ reports the talks "didn't advance," leaving no deal in place.
- The WSJ frames Delta as the "profitable rival" in the merger pitch, underscoring the financial gap that made consolidation attractive from United's side.
- The approach positions United as the instigator of a potential industry-restructuring deal while signaling that Delta — not United — held the upper hand in deciding whether to engage.
Why it matters: A United-Delta tie-up would have created the largest U.S. carrier by market value, redrawing the competitive map in an already consolidated industry. The WSJ's characterization of Delta as the "profitable rival" reveals the strategic logic: United was chasing scale and margins it couldn't match organically. Delta's silence signals it can afford to wait — a power dynamic every future industry deal will now be measured against.
