This article lists airline mergers and acquisitions, with a brief history of each:
Air India 2007 - Merged with Indian Airlines. Kept Air India name. 2022 - Acquires Vistara 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 1978 - Merged with NAC 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 Canadian North 2019 - Acquired by First Air. Acquired the First Air brand kept the Canadian North name. 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) First Air 2019 - Acquired Canadian North. Kept the First Air brand acquired the Canadian North name. 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)Lufthansa steigt bei ITA Airways ein und macht Rom zum Drehkreuz, AeroTELEGRAPH, May 25, 2023 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 Vistara 2024 - Merged into Air India 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 2011 - 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. 2024 - Acquired Hawaiian Airlines, both airlines will continue to operate as separate brands 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, under the United name and the Continental brand 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 2008 - Merged with Northwest Airlines, was world's largest carrier at time of merger, keeping the Delta Air Lines brand and name. 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 - Merged with Colonial Airlines 1967 - Merged with Mackey 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 Hawaiian Airlines 2024 - Acquired by Alaska Air Group 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 courtUS judge blocks JetBlue from acquiring Spirit Airlines, Reuters, Jan. 16, 2024 2026 - (Spirit Airlines) - ceased operations and filed for chapter 7 liquidation 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 2011 - Acquired AirTran Airways Trans World Airlines 1925 - First incorporated 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