Continental – United Merger?

Continental chief touts United combo
No talks in works; United sees industry `benefit’ in mergers

Bloomberg News
Published December 9, 2005
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NEW YORK — The flight networks of Continental Airlines and United Airlines would make a “knock-em-dead combination” if the carriers were to merge, Continental Chief Financial Officer Jeff Misner said.

Continental prefers to stay independent, Misner said, and a United spokeswoman said it hasn’t made any offer for Continental.

If United were to offer a “bucket of dough,” Continental would consider it, Misner told an investors conference Thursday. “We’re not going to sit by and have the world rush by.”

The combined companies would better cover the world by putting together Continental’s strongest markets–in Latin America, Europe, the East Coast and the South–with United’s network in Asia, Europe and the Midwest and West. Houston-based Continental is the nation’s fifth-largest airline, and United is the second biggest.

Competition and too much capacity in the U.S. airline industry have held down air fares and helped push Elk Grove Township-based United and other carriers into bankruptcy. Industry executives and analysts have said consolidation, such as the September merger of US Airways and America West, is likely to continue.

“Prospects for industry consolidation appear somewhat better moving into 2006 given the surprisingly strong availability of equity capital” and the easing of scrutiny by antitrust regulators, Fitch Ratings’ Bill Warlick said in a report Wednesday.

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, the nation’s third- and fourth-largest carriers, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

The biggest U.S. airlines have had $40 billion in losses from 2001 through the third quarter of 2005, partly because of more competition from discount airlines and an increase in fuel costs.

“We believe the industry would benefit from thoughtful consolidation,” said Jean Medina, a United spokeswoman. “We’re focused on completing our bankruptcy and exiting in February.”

While merging airlines would be good for the industry, it’s a “terribly disruptive, complicated process,” Misner said.