Closed captioning of: United Airlines to buy Continental
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this morning for your reporting.
>>>
two big airlines are merging, united and continental, in a deal to create the
world
's biggest airline. tom costello joins us from
washington
with more. what does it mean for the companies and the customers?
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reporter: experts have been arguing for years there are too many airlines, all struggling to eek out a profit and the only way for them to survive is for them to combine. the new name will be united based in chicago, offering the biggest
frequent flyer program
. for passengers, it will mean they'll be able to fly on one single airline across the u.s., into asia,
south america
and europe, but will regulators allow the deal to go through? analysts believe continental and united overlap on 13 nonstop routes and leaves the u.s. with just three big international airlines. that could mean higher ticket prices on routes where there is less competition.
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tom costello this morning. tom, thanks.
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