[Anonymous]

[Potakas]

The Wall Street Journal reports on its website this afternoon that

“Continental Airlines and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines are expected to announce Monday that they are merging to form the world’s largest airline by traffic, people familiar with the matter said.”

The Journal’s adds United’s board will meet Friday “while Continental’s board is meeting Friday and Sunday to discuss the deal, these people said.”

Continental Airlines is again discussing a merger with United Airlines, two years after the Houston-based carrier abandoned similar talks and declared its desire to stay independent.

The renewed talks were kick-started after word got out last week that United and US Airways had started merger discussions of their own.

If United and US Airways were to merge, they would create the second-largest airline in the world, leaving Continental a distant fourth.

There was speculation last week that those talks might draw Continental back to the table. A merger of Continental and United would make it the largest carrier, surpassing the now-merged Delta and Northwest.

“I’m not surprised that there are merger talks, but that doesn’t mean there will be a merger,” a knowledgeable industry source stressed.

A merger would generate revenue and cost savings of more than $2 billion, perhaps $750 million to $1 billion more than a United-US Airways pairing, according to a research report by analyst Hunter K. Keay of investment bank Stifel Nicolaus.

On Thursday, United’s Air Line Pilots Association announced that Continental seemed like a more logical partner for United than US Airways, saying that deal would have fewer overlapping routes. That, the union said, would help protect more pilot jobs.

[Potakas]

Hopefully they merge and i was reliable 😀

Well done WSJ.

[VintageKrug]

They did and your info was spot on.

Nasty new livery for the aircraft, though:

http://www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com/

[Potakas]

Boeing released the first Boeing’s 737-800 photo, painted on the new livery.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/193871692.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1289935173&Signature=k2ddte%2Foa8nFiDCBZFnWtESvH8I%3D

Regards

[Author]

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