Data & Statistics
U.S. Airline Mergers and Acquisitions
Sep 18, 2024The 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 |
| Alaska Airlines / Hawaiian Airlines | 12/3/2023 | 9/18/2024 | Alaska Airlines / Hawaiian Airlines |
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