United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) chief executive officer Scott Kirby personally approached his counterpart at Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, to discuss a potential merger in 2025. The talks did not advance beyond the initial evaluation and due diligence, according to inside sources. United also openly floated a merger with American Airlines, but that carrier was not interested. Kirby said previously that he believed combining two heavyweight carriers, rather than a merger of struggling airlines aiming solely at surviving, could offer growth for the US airline industry. Kirby later dismissed a potential takeover of much smaller JetBlue Airways.