US Airways Wins AMR as Horton Said to Wage Last CEO Push

AMR Corp. Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton kept pitching himself to be CEO in a merger with US Airways Group Inc. until the end of January, when his bankruptcy creditors firmly said no, people familiar with the matter said.

That set the stage for end-game negotiations to combine AMR’s American Airlines and US Airways. The focus became social issues -- Horton’s transition role, the length of his chairmanship and his compensation, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.