US Airways and AMR are in the final stages of negotiating a merger, with final price and management structure still to be resolved. A combined American-US Airways would have revenue of $38.69 billion based on 2012 figures, in front of current world No. 1 United Continental Holdings.
Major airlines still face plenty of problems, but at least they're operating in the black. 2012 was the third straight year of profits for the industry, even though the fourth-quarter results out this week are mixed.
Despite the State Department issuing a travel alert Sunday following the killing of infamous terrorist Osama Bin Laden, Wall Street analysts expect airline stocks to continue their upward ride.
As the U.S. economic recovery edges forward, these three airline stocks stand out as buys for fundamental reasons. Several analysts, including those at Value Line, see better days coming for this group.
UAL Corp., the parent of United Airlines, reported sharply higher earnings in the second quarter of $273 million, or $1.29 a share. Quarterly revenue rose 28.4% to $5.16 billion from $4 billion.
