William Douglas Parker finally signed up an agreement to merge US Airways Group Inc. with another major airline after years of trying. The US Airways CEO struck a deal to combine the company with American Airlines parent company AMR Inc. on February 14, which would create the world’s largest air carrier. Parker took the reins at America West Airlines Inc. in 2001 and four years later bought US Airways out of bankruptcy. Since then, he has tried to buy Delta Air Lines Inc. out of bankruptcy, held talks with UAL Corp., which ended up merging with Continental Airlines Inc. [ Big Deals, July 2010], and spent more than a year working to combine with AMR after it filed for Chapter 11 in November 2011.
AMR debtors, employees, and prebankruptcy stockholders will own 72 percent of the combined company, which should have a market capitalization of about $11 billion. US Airways shareholders will own the rest of the entity, which will keep the American Airlines name and AMR’s Fort Worth headquarters. Parker will be the CEO, and AMR CEO Thomas Horton will be the nonexecutive chairman of the board.
