The wave of big airline mergers that took place over the last few years left only a few major players unmerged. In fact, according to U.S. Airways CEO Doug Parker, the only big airline still operating on its own is his company. Parker believes that a merger involving U.S. Airways could still happen, and he would welcome the opportunity.

Parker pointed to Alaska Airways and JetBlue Airways as other airlines that could become the targets of mergers, but those would be smaller transactions than any deal involving U.S. Airways.

U.S. Airways is the nation's fifth largest airline, and Parker says it could continue to operate alone.

Somehow U.S. Airways was left out of the recent wave of airline mergers. Southwest Airlines is planning to purchase AirTran this year. Delta Air Lines Inc. bought Northwest in 2008, and United and Continental merged into United Continental Holdings Inc. just last year.

San Diego mergers and acquisitions attorneys point out that U.S. Airways is the size it is now because of a merger with America West in 2005. Even though headquarters and ground workers for the two former rivals have been integrated, former America West and U.S. Airways pilots and flight attendants still fly on separate fleets of planes, under different schedules, and are governed by separate labor contracts.

Flight attendants for U.S. Airways were demonstrating outside company headquarters recently because of the absence of a new contract.

U.S. Airways plans to add more first-class sections to airplanes in its fleet. More than sixty percent of its planes will offer first-class seats when the project is complete, compared to forty percent now.

Source: ABC News "CEO Says US Airways Is Last Big Merger Candidate" 4/6/2011