AMR Reported in Talks With Northwest Air

Officials of AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, have talked with Northwest Airlines Corp. about a bid to acquire Northwest, KSTP-TV in St. Paul, Minn., reported Thursday night.

Northwest’s chief executive, John Dasburg, has been in contact with his counterpart at AMR, Donald J. Carty, about a possible merger, the television station said, citing “well-placed” sources within the industry. It did not identify the sources but said the talks were in preliminary stages.

Calls to Northwest for comment were not immediately returned. Reached at home Thursday evening, American spokesman John Hotard said, “There is officially no comment.”

Analysts have said that American, the world’s second-largest airline and based in Fort Worth, could feel pressure to consider buying another carrier after the recent announcement that UAL Corp., the parent of industry leader United Airlines, agreed to acquire US Airways Group Inc., the sixth-largest U.S. carrier, for $4.3 billion.

Delta Air Lines and the rest of the nation’s big carriers, in fact, are expected to consider mergers to stay competitive if the United-US Airways deal is allowed to go forward.

But any effort to buy Northwest, the nation’s fourth-largest airline, would be exceptionally complicated. Besides the issue of integrating the airlines’ unionized workers--which is always difficult in airline mergers--Northwest already owns a controlling stake in fifth-ranked Continental Airlines through a strategic alliance the companies formed in 1998.

Moreover, Continental has said it now wants to buy back all or part of Northwest’s ownership stake, so it’s certain Continental would have a major say in any deal that Northwest might accept. In addition, the Justice Department has filed suit against the two airlines challenging their alliance on competitive grounds, and the case is pending.