United-American Deal May Be Dead, But Kirby’s Dream Lives On (1)

Scott Kirby may have received only a lukewarm response from the White House the first time he pitched his idea two months ago to merge his United Airlines Holdings Inc. with rival American Airlines Group Inc. That doesn’t mean he’s not willing to give it another shot.

Early on Monday, United’s chief executive officer published a lengthy treatise on why a combination would have made a lot of sense — political, corporate or consumer opposition be damned. Talks might be dead for now, but that doesn’t mean the idea was fundamentally flawed, Kirby argued.

Never mind that American Airlines said ...