American Airlines today agreed to buy assets of United Airlines for $1.2 billion (euro 1.27 billion) in cash with the assumption of some lease obligations.
The deal is to help United's campaign to win regulatory approval for its planned $4.3 billion merger with US Airways Group.
American, which also agreed to buy a 49-per cent stake in fledgling airline DC Air for $82 million, will provide competitive flights on routes where United and US Airways are the only competitors with non-stop flights.
United will also send up to 86 aircraft acquired in the merger with US Airways to American. The agreement also stipulates that American offer jobs to 1,100 US Airways pilots.
United and American also agreed to a 20-year joint venture in which they will each fly half of the daily shuttles between Washington, New York and Boston.
The deal comes ahead of an announcement expected from American that it will buy almost all of indebted Trans World Airlines’s (TWA) assets for $500 million and assume about $3bn of the company's aircraft leases.
Reuters