Interesting piece of news:
Amid turbulence, United to trim domestic flights -- chicagotribune.com
"United executives reiterated that consummating a merger remains a top priority at the carrier. Analysts and insiders think a deal with Continental Airlines is likeliest for United, though United also has held formal merger discussions with Delta Air Lines. United officials declined to discuss merger specifics."
"United's chief executive, Glenn Tilton, emphasized that unless U.S. carriers combine operations, they will not gain the global reach of rivals such as Air France-KLM Group or Singapore Airlines, or remain competitive as foreign trade barriers fall."
"United also would consider withdrawing from the Star Alliance, the global marketing consortium it co-founded, if needed to close a deal. "You can assume that absolutely everything goes into the mix of consideration," Tilton said."
UA is one of the five founding-members of *A and they are willing to give up membership to merge with another airline?
It's also interesting to see a possibility of UA merging with CO!