United and Continental announced a merger deal today (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36904325/ns/business-us_business/) that makes United the largest airline in the world. The Continental moniker will be dropped except in the holding company name. How will this merger impact OKC air routes, etc? Thoughts from those in the industry?

We have touched on this a bit in the existing OKC Aviation thread:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-area-talk/19252-okc-will-rogers-air-service-discussion-13.html

United and Continental are merging...

-thereby creating the country's crappiest airline...

United and Continental are merging...

-thereby creating the country's crappiest airline...
If I were you, I wouldn't put my butt on one of their planes then. That will show em.

United and Continental are merging...

-thereby creating the country's crappiest airline...Funny how people see things different ways. They're my two favorite airlines (that fly to OKC)!

Funny how people see things different ways. They're my two favorite airlines (that fly to OKC)!

Continental has actually had one the better consumer ratings in the last few years among the major airlines. None of the airlines are particularly consumer friendly any more, however. I can't see the merger helping anything in regards to prices. Having more competition always helps. In the past when one of the airlines has tried to float some kind of price increase it usually depended on everone else following suit for it to stick. With less competition, future increases are more likely to stay in place. The larger airline may be good for international travelers since Continental and United didn't overlap in too many areas on those routes.