AMR Can Survive Without Taking a Merger Partner, CEO Says
Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said American Airlines doesn’t need a merger to thrive after bankruptcy, even with US Airways Group Inc., which has said a combination is vital to the larger carrier’s survival.
American “has great assets,” Horton said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We have the best partners around the world and we have got a pipeline of industry-leading products and services” that include 550 new airplanes on order.
American parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) hopes to complete a review of strategic options by the fall, Horton said in a separate interview today. The company has begun considering options now that it has cost and revenue projections for a stand-alone plan.
US Airways, the most vocal suitor, said yesterday it won’t wait indefinitely for a merger agreement. Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker has argued a combination with US Airways is the only way for American to resolve route-network weaknesses after consolidation in the industry left it a distant No. 3 behind United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and Delta Air Lines Inc.
US Airways was one of five carriers Horton mentioned as potential partners in a meeting with AMR’s creditors committee June 10, people familiar with the matter have said. The others were Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp. and Virgin America Inc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Langford at jlangford2@bloomberg.net
AMR Can Survive Without Taking a Merger Partner, CEO Says
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
An Airbus A319, operated by US Airways Group Inc., takes off behind a Boeing Co. 737, operated by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, at Reagan National Airport.
An Airbus A319, operated by US Airways Group Inc., takes off behind a Boeing Co. 737, operated by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, at Reagan National Airport. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas Horton, chief executive officer of AMR Corp., talks about the company's bankruptcy and the possibility of American Airlines' merger with US Airways Group Inc. He speaks with Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
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