United's merger pitch for American Airlines draws swift antitrust skepticism - Reuters

"A potential United-American merger proves how broken the airline industry is in America – and would be an absolute disaster for the flying public."

— Ganesh Sitaraman , Academic

"The fact that we would even be having a serious discussion about a single US carrier controlling nearly 40% of the market is beyond absurd."

— William McGee , Activist

"We have been very open about our concerns regarding American Airlines’s financial, operational and customer service underperformance under the current management team."

— Dennis Tajer , Activist

"If there was a merger between some of the larger airlines, they would have to peel off ​some of their assets."

— Sean Duffy , Politician

""This seems hopeless to me. There are huge overlaps on a number of routes and in various metropolitan areas (such as Chicago). No amount of divestitures would fix it.""

— William Kovacic , Academic

""But he questioned whether that valuation is realistic, given the added debt burden for United.""

— Tom Fitzgerald , Executive

""Data shows American, Delta and United have stopped competing on price.""

— William McGee , Activist

"We’ll see, there’s lots of rumours about that."

— Scott Kirby , Executive

"Is there room for some mergers in the aviation industry? Yeah, I think there is."

— Sean Duffy , Politician

"President Trump, he loves to see big deals happen. Is there room for some mergers in the aviation industry? Yeah, I think there is."

— Sean Duffy , Politician