United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) approached Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) last year about merging the two most valuable U.S. carriers. United CEO Scott Kirby personally called Delta CEO Ed Bastian to pitch the idea. Delta’s leadership discussed the proposal as part of preliminary due diligence, but the talks never progressed, and both airlines moved on. News of the approach broke on July 26, and both stocks rose the same day, United up 3.51% to $119.42 and Delta up 3.49% to $86.25.
Why the Merger Talk Never Went Anywhere
A merger between United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) and Delta would have combined two of the four giants that already dominate the U.S. airline industry. United and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) alone accounted for more than 90% of the industry’s profits last year. Industry officials have long believed such a deal would be impossible on antitrust grounds. However, business leaders had grown hopeful that big, previously unthinkable deals might happen under the second Trump administration. This was not Kirby’s only swing at a megadeal. He also floated a merger with American Airlines earlier this year, which American’s CEO Robert Isom publicly rejected as anticompetitive.
This makes you wonder: is United’s appetite for a transformative merger a sign of real ambition, or proof it still needs one to catch up to Delta?
United’s Bull and Bear Case
Kirby has shown real appetite for transformative deals and remains open to buying airport slots, gates, or other assets from weaker rivals struggling with high fuel prices. Of past airline mergers built around cost-cutting, he has said, “My aspirations could not be more different,” framing his ambitions as being about growth, not survival.
However, every big merger attempt has stalled. Delta didn’t advance the talks; American Airlines rejected the approach outright. An earlier report that Kirby raised a United-American tie-up directly with President Trump drew public backlash from lawmakers. Without a willing partner, which Kirby himself says any deal requires, United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) remains stuck at a market value of about $38 billion, well behind Delta’s roughly $56 billion.
Delta’s Bull and Bear Case
Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) built its position as the most profitable U.S. carrier on a premium travel experience strategy that even inspired United’s own transformation. Its higher market value and dominant share of industry profits show that strategy is working without needing to chase a risky, antitrust-exposed megadeal.
However, high fuel prices are pressuring the whole industry. Bastian has acknowledged that further consolidation among smaller, struggling airlines is possible, a sign that industry-wide financial stress is real even for a leader like Delta.
Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data
Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database shows United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) had 68 hedge fund holders as of Q1 2026, down from 79 the quarter before, while the dollar value hedge funds held in United fell from about $4.59 billion to $3.78 billion. Delta also had 68 holders, roughly flat from 67, but the dollar value hedge funds held in Delta nearly doubled, from about $2.60 billion to $5.15 billion, a sign hedge funds grew far more bullish on Delta than on United heading into this news. Among other major carriers, American Airlines had 42 holders, down from 49, and Southwest had 54, up from 47. United and Delta both easily outdraw those two.
Conclusion
The bigger story here may not be the merger that didn’t happen, but what its failure confirms: in today’s airline industry, brand loyalty and operating profit matter more than sheer size. Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) and United are both already winning without needing each other.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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