American, US Airways contemplate merger

NEW YORK — AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, and US Airways Group announced Friday they would exchange confidential information in an effort to combine.

The non-disclosure agreement also means the companies won’t be providing more information regarding the status of discussions until there’s a deal or they call off talks, the airlines said.

The airline companies said they would work in "close collaboration" and "good faith" to evaluate a merger, including working with the creditors committee of AMR, which is in bankruptcy protection.

The companies note there’s no guarantee that a merger will result.

For a long time after AMR’s bankruptcy last November, CEO Tom Horton insisted the company was not interested in a merger while it was restructuring, saying it was too complex to do both. Meanwhile, US Airways CEO Doug Parker aggressively and publicly campaigned for merger talks.

In a letter Friday informing American Airlines managers about the non-disclosure agreement, the company said, "This will be an objective, thorough, fact-based process. Although we will proceed with these discussions in good faith, there can be no assurance that any transaction will take place." — Agencies