Data & Statistics

U.S. Airline Mergers and Acquisitions

Jan 16, 2024

The table below is an unofficial compilation of completed (not merely proposed) mergers and acquisitions since the inception of the U.S. airline industry. Neither the U.S. Department of Transportation nor A4A maintains official records of airline M&A activity. As such, we cannot verify the accuracy of each individual entry. The table is provided as a service rather than an authoritative source. It is the only known comprehensive, centralized, publicly available source.

Title Announced Closed Resulting Entity
Western Air Express / Standard Airlines 1/22/1930 5/1/1930 Western Air Express
Western Air Express / Transcontinental Air Transport 11/15/1929 7/16/1930 Transcontinental & Western Air
Delta Air Lines / Chicago and Southern (C&S) Air Lines 4/26/1952 5/1/1953 Delta Air Lines
United Airlines / Capital Airlines 7/28/1960 6/1/1961 United Airlines
Western Airlines / Pacific Northern Airlines 10/28/1966 7/1/1967 Western Airlines
Frontier Airlines / Central Airlines 5/5/1967 10/1/1967 Frontier Airlines
Alaska Airlines / Cordova Airlines Early 1967 2/1/1968 Alaska Airlines
Allegheny Airlines / Lake Central Airlines 10/19/1967 3/14/1968 Allegheny Airlines (later renamed US Airways)
Alaska Airlines / Alaska Coastal Airlines 3/17/1967 4/1/1968 Alaska Airlines
Pacific Airlines / Bonanza Airlines / West Coast Airlines 6/22/1967 7/1/1968 Air West
American Airlines / Trans Caribbean Airways 1/18/1970 3/3/1971 American Airlines
Allegheny Airlines / Mohawk Airlines 4/14/1971 4/12/1972 Allegheny Airlines (later renamed US Airways)
Delta Air Lines / Northeast Airlines 4/23/1971 8/1/1972 Delta Air Lines
North Central Airlines / Southern Airways / Hughes Airwest 7/14/1978 7/1/1979 Republic Airlines
Pan Am / National Airlines 8/23/1978 1/7/1980 Pan Am
Republic Airlines / Hughes Airwest 3/12/1980 10/1/1980 Republic Airlines
Continental Airlines / Texas Air Corporation 2/9/1981 10/31/1982 Continental Airlines
Southwest Airlines / Muse Airlines 6/25/1985 12/12/1985 Southwest Airlines
United Airlines / Pan Am: Pacific Routes 4/22/1985 2/1986 United Airlines
Northwest Airlines / Republic Airlines 1/23/1986 10/1/1986 Northwest Airlines
TWA / Ozark Air Lines 3/1/1986 10/27/1986 TWA
Delta Air Lines / Western Airlines 9/9/1986 12/16/1986 Delta Air Lines
Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air 11/19/1986 12/31/1986 Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air
Continental Airlines / People Express / New York Air / Frontier Airlines 1/12/1987 2/1/1987 Continental Airlines
American Airlines / AirCal 11/18/1986 4/30/1987 American Airlines
US Air / Pacific Southwest Airlines 11/18/1986 5/29/1987 US Air
Alaska Airlines / Jet America 7/23/1987 10/1/1987 Alaska Airlines
US Air / Piedmont Airlines 3/19/1987 8/4/1989 US Air
American Airlines / Eastern Air Lines: Latin Routes 12/19/1989 7/1/1990 American Airlines
American Airlines / TWA: Heathrow Routes 12/16/1990 5/2/1991 American Airlines
Delta Air Lines / Pan Am Airlines (Shuttle and Atlantic Routes) 7/27/1991 11/1/1991 Delta Shuttle
United Airlines / Pan Am: Latin & Caribbean Routes 12/9/1991 5/16/1992 United Airlines
Southwest Airlines / Morris Airlines 12/13/1993 12/31/1993 Southwest Airlines
AirTran Airways / Valujet 7/11/1997 11/17/1997 AirTran Airways
American Airlines / Reno Air 11/19/1998 2/1/1999 American Airlines
Delta Air Lines / Atlantic Southeast Airlines 2/16/1999 3/22/1999 Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines / Comair 10/18/1999 10/22/1999 Delta Air Lines
American Airlines / TWA 1/10/2001 4/9/2001 American Airlines
Republic Airways / Shuttle America 4/22/2005 5/9/2005 Republic Airways
SkyWest / Atlantic Southeast Airlines 8/15/2005 9/8/2005 SkyWest / ASA
US Airways / America West Airlines 5/19/2005 9/27/2005 US Airways
Pinnacle Airlines / Colgan Air 1/18/2007 1/18/2007 Pinnacle Airlines / Colgan Air
Southwest Airlines / ATA Airlines 11/19/2008 12/2/2008 Southwest Airlines
Republic Airways / Midwest Airlines 6/23/2009 7/31/2009 Republic Airways
Republic Airways / Frontier Airlines 8/14/2009 10/1/2009 Republic Airways
Delta Air Lines / Northwest Airlines 4/14/2008 12/31/2009 Delta Air Lines
Pinnacle Airlines / Mesaba Airlines 7/1/2010 7/1/2010 Pinnacle Airlines / Mesaba Airlines
United Airlines / Continental Airlines 5/3/2010 10/1/2010 United Airlines
SkyWest / Atlantic Southeast Airlines / ExpressJet Airlines 8/4/2010 11/15/2010 SkyWest / SureJet
Southwest Airlines / AirTran Airways 9/27/2010 5/2/2011 Southwest Airlines
US Airways / American Airlines 2/14/2013 12/9/2013 American Airlines
Atlas Air / Southern Air 1/19/2016 4/7/2016 Atlas Air Worldwide
FedEx / TNT Express 4/27/2015 5/25/2016 FedEx
Alaska Airlines / Virgin America 4/4/2016 12/14/2016 Alaska Airlines
United Airlines (via ManaAir) / ExpressJet Airlines 12/18/2018 1/3/2019 United / ExpressJet
Southern Airways / Mokulele Airlines 2/12/2019 3/11/2019 Southern / Mokulele
Mokulele Airlines / Makani Kai Air 6/3/2020 12/2020 Mokulele
Southern Airways / Air Choice One (Multi-Aero) 3/28/2022 7/2/2022 Southern
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