Academic

The NY Times is reporting that United and US Air are in merger talks.

Ten years ago, the last time these two airlines were courting each other, I lived in D.C., and it was that market that caused the most antitrust concerns.  United has a hub at Dulles, while US Air has one in Philadelphia and has major operations out of National.

Will this courtship turn out differently?  Are the continuing struggles of the airlines enough to overcome union and antitrust obstacles?  (Don't ask me.  I won't even pretend to be an antitrust scholar.)

Which of the potentially eight hubs of the combined airline (SF, LAX, Phoenix, Denver, O'Hare, Philly, Dulles, Charlotte) would be downgraded?  Living in the Southwest, I hope it would be none of the western ones.  Phoenix might seem like a good candidate, although the city has stealthily grown into one of the five largest in the country.  I am also rooting for Philly to remain viable.  The US Air hub there keeps prices down when we fly back to God's Country (aka New Jersey).