List of airline mergers and acquisitions

This article lists airline mergers and acquisitions, with a brief history of each:

Air India
 * 2007 - Merged with Indian Airlines. Kept Air India name.

Air Berlin
 * 2006 - Acquired dba
 * 2007 - Acquired LTU International
 * 2009 - Acquired LGW
 * 2009 - Acquired Belair
 * 2011 - Acquired flyNiki
 * 2017 - Filed for insolvency

Air New Zealand
 * 2000 - Acquired Ansett Australia, Ansett collapsed, proving to be more of a drain than asset.

Air Canada
 * 2000 - Acquired Canadian Airlines

Air France
 * 1990 - Acquired Air Inter, fully absorbing it into Air France in April, 1997.
 * 2004 - Merged with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, changing the company name to Air France-KLM, although the two airlines still operate as separate airlines.

Air Jamaica
 * 2010 - Acquired by Caribbean Airlines

Avianca
 * 1919 - Begins as SCADTA
 * 1940 - Merged with SACO, retains Avianca name
 * 1994 - Merged with SAM and Helicol
 * 2003 - Acquired ACES Colombia' routes
 * 2003 - Acquired OceanAir and VIP Ecuador
 * 2008 - Acquired Tampa Cargo
 * 2009 - Merged with TACA Airlines
 * 2009 - Acquired AeroGal
 * 2014 - Acquired AeroUnion, which continues to operate as a separate airline

Aurora
 * 2013 - Formed by merger of Aeroflot subsidiaries SAT Airlines and Vladivostok Air

Austrian Airlines
 * 1957 Air Austria and Austrian Airways form Austrian Airlines
 * 2002 Merged Rheintalflug and Tyrolean Airways to Austrian Arrows
 * 2013 Merged with Lauda Air kept name

British Airways and Iberia
 * 2010 - International Airlines Group (IAG) was formed by the merger of two airlines. Both carriers continued to operate under separate brand.
 * As IAG
 * 2011 - Acquired British Midland International
 * 2012 - Acquired Vueling
 * 2015 - Acquired Aer Lingus
 * 2022 - Acquired 20% of Air Europa

Bulgaria Air
 * 2010 - Merged with Hemus Air kept the name Bulgaria Air

Canadian Airlines
 * 1987 - Formed by merger of Canadian Pacific Airlines, Eastern Provincial Airways, Nordair, and Pacific Western Airlines
 * 1989 - Acquired Wardair
 * 2001 - Canadian Airlines acquired by Air Canada

Caribbean Airlines
 * 2010 - Acquired Air Jamaica

Cathay Pacific
 * 2006 - Acquired full ownership over Dragonair (rebranded to Cathay Dragon in 2016), which continued to operate as a separate airline until 2020, when it was folded into Cathay Pacific
 * 2020 - Acquired Hong Kong Express

Cimber Air
 * 2008 - Acquired bankrupt Sterling Airlines to form Cimber Sterling.

Etihad Airways
 * 2011 to 2021 - Attempted to create its own airline alliance, Etihad Airways Partners, through acquisition of minority stakes in several airlines: Air Berlin (29.21%, 2011) (filed bankruptcy, 2017), Air Seychelles (40%, 2012) (divested, 2021), Aer Lingus (2.987%, 2012), Virgin Australia (10%, 2012), Jat Airways (rebranded Air Serbia) (49%, 2013) (reduced to 18%, 2020), Jet Airways (24%, 2013) (filed bankruptcy, 2019), Darwin Airline (33.3%, 2013) (divested, 2017), Alitalia (49%, 2014) (filed bankruptcy, 2017), flyNiKi (49%, 2016) (filed bankruptcy, 2017)

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
 * 2004 - Acquired by Air France, which changed its company name to Air France-KLM, although the two airlines still operate as separate airlines

Loftleidir-Icelandic
 * 1979 - Flugfélag Íslands and Loftleiðir merged, and the airline became known as Icelandair.

LOT Polish Airlines
 * 1929 - Aero and Aerolot merged to form LOT Polish Airlines

LAN Airlines
 * 1995 - Purchased Ladeco
 * 2012 - Merged with TAM Linhas Aéreas to form LATAM Airlines Group

Lufthansa
 * 1955 - Created Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH in conjunction with other companies and subsequently owned 25.81% of it
 * 1959 - Increased its shares in Deutsche Flugdienst to 95.5%. In 1961 Deutsche Flugdienst bought "Condor-Luftreederei“ renaming itself then "Condor Flugdienst GmbH"
 * 1989 - Created SunExpress Airlines as a joint venture with Turkish Airlines
 * 1995 - Transferred SunExpress shares over to Condor
 * 1999 - Purchased 26% of Air Dolomiti
 * 2003 - upped its stake to 51.9% (April) and then 100% (November) of Air Dolomiti
 * 2006 - Lufthansa sold its remaining 50% stake in Condor to KarstadtQuelle AG
 * 2007 - In conjunction with the sale of Condor, LH took back its shares of SunExpress
 * 2005-2007 - Purchased Swiss Int'l Airlines
 * 2008 - Purchased Austrian Airlines
 * 2008 - Purchased BMI (Sold in 2011 to IAG (British Airways))
 * 2008 - Acquired 45% of Brussels Airlines
 * 2008 - Purchased 19% of Jetblue
 * 2009 - Acquired 100% of Germanwings
 * 2016 - Acquired remaining 55% of Brussels Airlines
 * 2017 - Acquired Air Berlin
 * 2023 - Agreement to purchase 41% of ITA Airways (successor of Alitalia)

Rossiya Airlines
 * 2006 - Increases by merger with Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise
 * 2016 - Increases by merger with Donavia and Orenair and re-brands

S7 Airlines (Siberia Airlines)
 * 2001 - Acquired Vnukovo Airlines and Baikal Airlines
 * 2004 - Acquired Enkor
 * 2005 - Re-brands from Siberia Airlines to S7 Airlines and makes Moscow-Domodedovo as the main hub
 * 2008 - Acquired Perm Airlines

TAM Linhas Aéreas
 * 1996 - Acquired Helisul Linhas Aéreas
 * 1996 - Acquired LAPSA
 * 1998 - Acquired Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos
 * 2012 - Merged with LAN Airlines to form LATAM Airlines Group


 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * AirTran Airways
 * 1997 - Bought by the holding company for ValuJet Airlines, the holding company merged their ValuJet airline into AirTran thus keeping the AirTran name.
 * 2010 - Bought by Southwest Airlines, AirTran fleet transferred to Southwest and thereby AirTran becomes an inactive subsidiary.
 * Alaska Airlines
 * 1986 - Acquired Jet America Airlines
 * 1986 - Acquired Horizon Air, which continues to operate as a separate airline.
 * 2018 - Acquired Virgin America. The merger made Alaska a dominant U.S. carrier in the West Coast.
 * 2023 - Agreement to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, which will continue to operate as a separate brand.
 * America West Airlines
 * 2005 - Acquired US Airways
 * American Airlines
 * 1971 - Acquired Trans Caribbean Airways
 * 1987 - Acquired Air California
 * 1990 - Acquired the Eastern Air Lines' route network from Miami to Latin America and the Caribbean
 * 1997 - Acquired Reno Air
 * 2001 - Acquires most of Trans World Airlines assets after filing for bankruptcy.
 * 2013 - Acquired by US Airways, keeping the American Airlines name. Currently the world's largest carrier.
 * 2019 - Purchased a 3% stake in China Southern Airlines.
 * Braniff International Airways
 * 1982 - South American routes was purchased by Eastern Air Lines
 * Continental Airlines
 * 1934 - Begins as Varney Speed Lines
 * 1982 - Acquired Texas International Airlines
 * 1987 - Acquired People Express, Frontier, and New York Air
 * 1987 - Acquired PBA and Britt Airways from People Express merger / created Continental Express
 * 2010 - Merged into United Airlines
 * Delta Air Lines
 * 1924 - Started as Huff Daland Dusters
 * 1928 - Huff Daland Dusters was purchased by C.E. Woolman and renamed Delta Air Service after the Mississippi Delta
 * 1953 - Purchased the Chicago and Southern Air Lines, and flew under the name Delta C&S for the next two years until the summer of 1955.
 * 1972 - Purchased Northeast Airlines after Northeast was experiencing financial problems.
 * 1984 - Established the Delta Connection (ASA, Comair, Skywest, ...)
 * 1987 - Merged with Western Airlines, at the time the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States.
 * 1991 - Purchase of Pan Am's European routes, and acquired Pan Am's shuttle, forming what is today Delta Shuttle
 * 1996 - Delta Express began service, ended November 2003
 * 2003 - Song began service, ended May 2006
 * 2010 - Merged with Northwest Airlines, was world's largest carrier at time of merger, keeping the Delta Air Lines brand.
 * 2017 - Bought 10% of Air France–KLM
 * 2017 - Bought 32% of Aeromexico to total a stake of 49% ownership
 * 2020 - Bought 20% of LATAM Airlines Group
 * Eastern Air Lines
 * 1956 - merges with Colonial Airlines
 * 1967 - Mackey Airlines merges with Eastern Airlines.
 * 1986 - Purchased by Texas International, but continues to operate separately as Eastern Airlines
 * 1990 - American Airlines purchased Eastern's routes from Miami to Latin America and the Caribbean
 * Florida Airlines
 * 1975 - Air South and Shawnee Airlines are purchased by Florida Airlines.
 * Frontier Airlines
 * 2007 - Entered service agreement with Republic Airways
 * 2008 - Declared bankruptcy, then purchased by Republic
 * 2009 - Still under the Frontier name, Republic mandates a merger between Frontier and Midwest Airlines
 * 2013 - Enter a contract with Indigo, beginning a transition into an ULCC
 * Hughes Airwest
 * 1968 - Pacific Air Lines (originally Southwest Airways), Bonanza Air Lines, and West Coast Airlines merged to form Air West
 * 1970 - Howard Hughes purchased Air West and renamed it Hughes Airwest
 * 1980 - Merged into Republic Airlines
 * JetBlue and Spirit Airlines
 * 2022 to 2024 - JetBlue's attempted acquisition of Spirit blocked by a federal court.
 * National Airlines
 * 1979 - Merged with Pan Am
 * Northeast Airlines
 * 1972 - Merged into Delta Air Lines
 * Northwest Airlines
 * 1916 - Founded by Col. Lewis Patenaude, under the name Northwest Airways
 * 1927 - Began flying passengers
 * 1949 - With its new routes to the far east, re-branded itself as Northwest Orient Airlines
 * 1986 - Purchased Republic Airlines, and dropped the word Orient from its brand name
 * 1993 - Began transatlantic partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, dubbed as "Wings Alliance".
 * 2008 - Merged into Delta Air Lines. Became world's largest airline by passenger traffic in 2008 under the Delta name.
 * Ozark Airlines
 * 1943 - Ozark Air Lines is founded, then ceases operations in late 1940s
 * 1944 - Parks Air Transport (Parks Air Lines) is founded
 * 1950 - Ozark Air Lines resumes operations
 * 1950 - Purchased Parks Air Transport (Parks Air Lines)
 * 1986 - Merged into Trans World Airlines
 * Pan Am
 * 1928 - Merged with Aviation Corporation of the Americas/American International Airways
 * 1928 - Founded and formed by the merger of Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways
 * 1929 - Acquired majority of Mexicana de Aviación
 * 1950 - Merged with American Overseas Airlines
 * 1979 - Merged with National Airlines
 * 1985 - United Airlines purchased Pan Am's entire Pacific Division
 * 1990 - United Airlines purchased Pan Am routes to London Heathrow Airport
 * 1991 - United Airlines purchased Pan Am's entire Latin American Division
 * 1991 - Delta Air Lines purchased Pan Am's European routes, and acquired Pan Am's Shuttle
 * 1991 to present - Following 1991 bankruptcy, trademarks sold to unaffiliated companies; Pan Am Flight Academy acquired by All Nippon Airways in 2014
 * Republic Airlines (Republic Airlines 1979-1986)
 * 1979 - Founded and formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways
 * 1944 - Southern Airways is founded
 * 1944 - Wisconsin Central Airlines is founded
 * 1952 - Wisconsin Central Airlines changes name to North Central Airlines
 * 1980 - Acquired Hughes Airwest
 * 1986 - Merged into Northwest Orient to form Northwest Airlines
 * Republic Airways Holdings
 * 2005 - Acquired Shuttle America.
 * 2009 - Acquired Midwest Airlines.
 * 2009 - Acquired Frontier Airlines.
 * Southwest Airlines
 * 1985 - Acquired Muse Air
 * 1993 - Acquired Morris Air
 * 2008 - Acquired certain assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines
 * 2010 - Acquired AirTran Airways
 * Trans World Airlines
 * 1925 - First Incorporate as Western Air Express
 * 1927 - Maddux Air Lines is founded
 * 1927 - Standard Air Lines is founded
 * 1928 - Transcontinental Air Transport is founded
 * 1929 - Maddux Air Lines merges with Transcontinental Air Transport
 * 1930 - Standard Air Lines merges with Western Air Express
 * 1930 - Western Air Express merges with Transcontinental Air Transport, rebranded itself as Transcontinental & Western Air, T&WA, later changed name to Trans World Airlines, TWA
 * 1934 - Western Air Express broke off from Transcontinental & Western Air, T&WA and briefly changed its name to General Air Lines, returning to the name Western Air Express after several months
 * 1986 - Purchased Ozark Air Lines
 * 2001 - Merged into American Airlines
 * United Airlines
 * 1926 - Founded as Varney Air Lines
 * 1931 - Purchased National Air Transport and Pacific Air Transport
 * 1961 - Merged with Capital Airlines
 * 1985 - Purchased Pan Am's entire Pacific Division
 * 1990 - Purchased Pan Am routes to London Heathrow Airport
 * 1991 - Purchased Pan Am's entire Latin American Division
 * 2012 - Acquired Continental Airlines. Was the world's largest carrier at the time of merger.
 * 2014 - After taking over Continental, United closed the hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for the second time.
 * US Airways
 * 1938 - Started as All American Aviation Company, renamed All American Airlines and then Allegheny Airlines
 * 1957 - Changed name to Allegheny Airlines
 * 1968 - Purchased Lake Central Airlines
 * 1972 - Purchased Mohawk Airlines
 * 1979 - Changed name to USAir
 * 1988 - Purchased Pacific Southwest Airlines
 * 1989 - Purchased Piedmont Airlines
 * 1992 - Operates former Trump Shuttle for banks, renamed by banks as Shuttle, Inc, dba USAir Shuttle
 * 1997 - Changed name to US Airways
 * 1997 - Purchased former Trump Shuttle, now Shuttle, Inc from Banks, dba US Airways Shuttle
 * 1998 - Launches low-fare carrier MetroJet
 * 2000 - Merges US Airways Shuttle into US Airways
 * 2001 - Dissolves low-fare carrier MetroJet
 * 2005 - Acquired by America West Airlines, keeping the US Airways name
 * 2013 - Merged into American Airlines
 * Virgin America
 * 2016 - Merged into Alaska Airlines. The merger made Alaska a dominant U.S. carrier in the West Coast.
 * Western Airlines
 * 1925 - First incorporated as Western Air Express by Harris Hanshue
 * 1926 - Western's first flight took place
 * 1928 - Reincorporated as Western Air Express Corp.
 * 1930 - Purchased Standard Airlines (subsidiary of Aero Corp. of Ca. founded in 1926). WAE with Fokker aircraft merged with Transcontinental Air Transport T-A-T to form Transcontinental & Western Air T&WA.
 * 1934 - Western Air Express broke off from Transcontinental & Western Air T&WA and briefly changed its name to General Air Lines, returning to the name Western Air Express after several months
 * 1941 - Western Air Express changed its name to Western Air Lines, which was later altered to Western Airlines
 * 1967 - merged with Pacific Northern Airlines
 * 1987 - Merged into Delta Air Lines