United and Continental Are Likely to Be the Next Major Airlines to Merge

Click to enlarge

In the immediate aftermath of the merger deal between Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL) and Northwest Airlines Corporation (NWA), speculation in the business-news media began to build that the next major carriers to merge would be UAL Corp’s (UAUA) United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc (CAL).

These two airlines “reportedly have been in talks for months," Reuters said in an online article on Tuesday.

"Continental said on Tuesday that it would review strategic alternatives. But pilots of both companies said they would not back a merger unless they approved of the terms," Reuters added.

However, as proved to be the case with Delta and Northwest, the personal connections between the Directors at United and Continental could be the key factor that determines the viability of a deal.

Therefore, NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate the personal connections between United Airlines and Continental.

The Knowledge Map shows a plethora of personal connections between the two airlines that indicate a merger deal between the two airlines has a very high probability of coming to pass.

These connections run through numerous companies in all sectors of the economy.

They include the following companies: Marriot International Inc (MAR), Bank of America Corp (BAC), AAR Corp (AIR), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI), Prudential Financial Inc (PRU), Gannett Co Inc (GCI), the Washington Gas Light Co, and the Nash Finch Co.