iahphx

It's hard to keep a secret in the airline world. US management is pretty good about it, but eventually SOMETHING leaks out. And "the buzz" at US almost always seems to lead to something (like this summer, the buzz accurately indicated that US would do some sort of transaction at LGA).

Now the buzz says there are high level talks between UA and US. That's pretty easy to establish because it's hard to keep it a secret when Parker or Kirby get on a plane -- or UA people show up in Tempe. So unless people are just making this stuff up, something important is being discussed.

There has been speculation of a merger possibility between US and AA. I've always dismissed these rumors because there's no obvious seller -- Parker and Kirby aren't looking to retire. With US and UA, there's a more obvious "partnership" possibility.

However, the odds would suggest that US/UA talks are about something significantly less than an actual merger. There's some thought that the 2 airlines (who are Star Alliance partners anyway) want to integrate some airport operations to save money. Makes sense, right? We probably won't know exactly what's going on until the press release is issued.