Love is in the air

摘要

The announcement of a merger to form the world's largest airline, with the capacity to carry nearly 150m passengers a year, might once have caused a flurry of excitement. But the $3 billion all-share deal to bring together United Airlines (ual) and Continental Airlines was greeted on May 3rd with a politely stifled yawn. Industry rivals, employees of the two carriers and even consumer advocates-all potential losers from the combination-expressed mild misgivings but concluded that such consolidations were a sign of the times. Wall Street granted lukewarm approval, marking shares in both firms down a little.