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After a 14-hour trek, I’m finally in Rio this weekend for the IATA AGM. If you’ll be at the conference, drop me a line at [email protected]. And as mentioned above, we’re taking down the paywall for our airlines coverage for the week.
One of the big themes in 2026 has been more airline consolidation. Ever since the Iran war caused fuel prices to soar, airline executives in the U.S. have been saying that the industry could enter another era of consolidation — struggling carriers will be forced to merge or be eliminated. And the news of United CEO Scott Kirby pitching a mega merger with American further added to M&A frenzy.
However, in just the past few weeks, it seems as if much of that M&A talk has died down. Most airline executives are now saying that there aren’t any viable options for a merger given that the industry is already consolidated, with just a handful of carriers left after recent tie-ups like Alaska-Hawaiian and Allegiant-Sun Country. And no one appears to be interested in a deal with JetBlue — the airline that has been seen as the most likely to pursue a merger — because of its high debt load.
Both United and Southwest CEOs said at an investor conference in May that they didn’t see JetBlue drumming up much interest for a merger. Kirby went a step further and blasted the idea that proposing a United-American merger would make a United-JetBlue tie-up more palatable to regulators. He described the theory as “idiotic.”
And just a week ago in Charleston, CEOs at ultra-low-cost upstarts Avelo and Breeze told me that they aren’t interested in pursuing any deals right now.
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EDITOR’S PICKS
IndiGo Suspends 7 International Routes: What’s Behind the Cutbacks
by Peden Doma Bhutia
June 5, 2026
India's two biggest airlines spent the last few years expanding aggressively abroad. IndiGo leased wide-body aircraft for the first time. Air India was looking to rebuild into a world-class global carrier. Both are now in retreat, at least temporarily, from some of those ambitions.
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
For months, industry observers have speculated about JetBlue's future and whether a larger airline might eventually step in.
In this clip from Airline Weekly Lounge, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat react to comments from United CEO Scott Kirby, who dismissed the idea of acquiring a route network that loses money and questioned the economics of improving JetBlue's margins enough to justify a deal.
While airline CEOs rarely show all their cards publicly, Kirby's remarks were among the strongest signals yet that a United JetBlue tie up may be far less likely than many expected.
The conversation explores whether this is genuine skepticism or simply high stakes negotiation strategy.
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