One of only two current commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has signalled his potential opposition to moves by United Airlines to start acquiring or merging with rival airlines… And it all comes down to a recent Economy Class experience he had with United.
Responsible for reviewing large mergers and investigating whether they have the potential to harm consumers, the FTC is a powerful force that, in concert with the Department of Justice, has a lot of oversight responsibility.
Hey @United, when you have to cut out indentations from your seat back tray to fit around passengers your rows might be just a tad too cramped. And I don’t think another merger will fix it. pic.twitter.com/RMwjsarjSI
— Mark Meador (@MeadorFTC) April 29, 2026
It appears, however, that Mark Meador, one of two Republican commissionersoners that sit on the FTC board, thinks that an airline merger spearheaded by United could harm consumers, resulting in a potential review and legal challenge.
Meador’s issues with United Airlines are to do with the size of its tray tables in Economy Class, with Meador noticing that the tables have an indent cut into them so that they’ll fit around passengers when they are fully down.
The indent would not be required if there were more legroom, allowing the full-sized tray table to deploy without the risk of landing on the passenger’s belly.
“Hey United, when you have to cut out indentations from your seat back tray to fit around passengers, your rows might be just a tad too cramped,” Meador wrote in a post on X. “And I don’t think another merger will fix it.”
Meador included a photo of the offending tray table with a oval shaped cut out.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of speculation about further consolidation in the U.S. aviation market, with talk of Spirit close to collapse, JetBlue’s financial issues quickly catching up with it, and United chief executive Scott Kirby even raising the idea of a mega merger with American Airlines.
If consolidation were to happen, then experts believe that now, under the Trump administration, is the time to do it.
Whether that analysis is truly accurate remains to be seen, what with Trump potentially injecting billions into Spirit Airlines and a slew of other ultra-low-cost airlines to keep them afloat, while turning them into partially government-owned entities.
Earlier this week, Kirby laid out his plans for the United and American merger, claiming his plan was to create the best airline in the world, bar none. Unfortunately, in Kirby’s eyes, at least, the AA board of directors’ refusal to even entertain a merger was depriving the American people of this vision.
Where Kirby potentially looks next is also a case of ‘watch this space.’
The hot money is on United eyeing a potential acquisition of JetBlue, although the carrier’s debt issue could be a big problem. There’s also talk of United looking to acquire assets from Spirit should it be allowed to fail.
In any case, United might have to convince Meador that its legroom in Economy won’t suffer even more from any merger.
