American Airlines, US Airways announce $11B merger

American Airlines and US Airways Group announced their $11-billion merger on Thursday, creating the world’s biggest airline.

The boards of both companies told the Wall Street Journal they hope to have the merger completed by the third quarter of 2013.

By 2015, they hope to have annual synergies of $1 billion, the Journal reported.

The newly-formed airline will be called American Airlines but will be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker.

American filed for bankruptcy in November 2011, and US Airways began its pursuit of a merger in early 2012, Reuters reported.

The merger reduces the number of major U.S. airlines to four.

Reuters said the new American Airlines will be two per cent larger than current No. 1 United Continental Holdings in traffic, as measured by the number of miles flown by paying passengers worldwide.

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