Scott Kirby, the chief executive of United Airlines, has once again rejected the idea that his airline might try to buy JetBlue, saying that further consolidation in the U.S. aviation industry is unlikely and that he won’t do a deal that doesn’t make financial sense.
In April, Kirby made headlines around the world when it emerged that he had approached senior White House officials to propose a potential merger with American Airlines, although it later turned out that he hadn’t yet approached AA’s board of directors with the idea.
Only days later, however, Kirby had his answer from American Airlines’ board without ever having the chance to present his proposal. The idea was almost immediately rejected without any engagement between the two sides.
Kirby later publicly set out his vision for why United and American Airlines should merge, with United being the dominant partner, although commentators wondered whether the whole thing was a ruse to lay a path for the acquisition of JetBlue.
The idea was that acquiring JetBlue would seem like a small deal in comparison to a mega-merger with American Airlines, and, as such, wouldn’t face so much scrutiny from regulators.
Kirby, however, insists that this was never the case. He wants to acquire American Airlines and won’t settle for anything less.
“United’s not going to do a deal just to do a deal,” Kirby said at the sides of the annual general conference of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has been taking place in Brazil.
Kirby is believed to be particularly concerned about JetBlue’s mounting debt levels, telling reporters: “You shouldn’t do deals that don’t make economic sense.”
Following the failure of Spirit Airlines, some analysts have wondered whether a new era of airline consolidation was on the horizon. Both United and Delta Air Lines have rejected that idea, although Kirby is open to acquiring additional assets.
