You are looking at this one dimensionally. If AS and shareholders actually want to get together with AA, it does not have to be an "acquisition". The simplest form is a cashless merger which were done by NW+DL, UA+CO, and AA+US where shareholders exchanged their shares for surviving entity shares and assets and liabilities were combined. No additional debt was issued or actual cash traded hands. If AS does not actually want to merge with AA, then no, it probably won't happen as price would likely be too steep for AA at current valuations. The current regulatory environment also does not appear all that friendly for mergers which would also seem to make this unlikely.