United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reportedly proposed a merger to the Trump administration this year, though he had been considering potential deals since last fall, according to sources familiar with the matter.

　　On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that Kirby had suggested a partnership with American Airlines. The White House received a report on the matter in February. Some aviation analysts and experts are skeptical of the merger, believing it would create the world's largest airline, but regulatory hurdles are too high to overcome. Both United and American Airlines declined to comment on the report.

　　The U.S. has never attempted a merger of this scale, although a wave of industry consolidation that began about two decades ago created American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines, which control approximately 80% of the domestic market share.

　　However, Kirby of United Airlines stated that the next phase for American Airlines is figuring out how to compete better on the international stage.

　　In a January episode of the "Stratechery" podcast, he said that "scale will help" compete in the U.S. outbound flight market.

　　He said, "Some of our customers almost always fly United or Delta, but when they travel to the Middle East, they choose Emirates because of the fragmented routes there. If we were larger and could offer these customers more choices, then it would probably make more sense for them to choose us when traveling to the Middle East."

　　For years, American Airlines has complained that some Middle Eastern airlines receive what they call unfair government subsidies. But recently, American Airlines has formed partnerships with some of these airlines: United has partnered with Emirates, American Airlines with Qatar Airways, and Delta Air Lines has signed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Airways, effective in 2024.

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