American, U.S. merge to form biggest, crappiest airline

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:00:00 +0000

U.S. Airways and American Airlines, two crappy airlines, are merging to form one mega airline -- the biggest in the world -- with a $11 billion deal agreed Thursday. According to the AP, the airline, which will keep the "American" title, expects to have $40 billion in annual revenue and offer more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries.

"The deal also caps turbulent half-decade of bankruptcies and consolidation for the U.S. airline industry," the AP noted, and according to reports, it also ushers in a new era of higher fares and service glitches.

Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance, told The Dallas Morning News, “Consumer harm is the norm with recent mergers... While the airline management rakes in merger bonuses, consumers are the ones who bear the brunt of post-merger integration service problems. With prior mergers, these issues have created major problems for passengers.”

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American, U.S. merge to form biggest, crappiest airline