Now Airbus, GE, Others Could Be In On Deal

Talks in the first of what some experts predict will be an airline trend appeared to have picked up steam over the weekend as Airbus appeared to step in with the cash necessary to fund a merger between America West and US Airways.

The merger would create America's sixth-biggest airline and is valued at $1 billion. The problem: Finding about half that amount to capitalize the deal.

Enter Airbus, Air Wisconsin, Air Canada and General Electric. All those companies are potential partners in the deal. But it's not all champagne and caviar -- GE will reportedly want to lower its exposure in the deal, cutting off most RJ funding and repossessing more lease planes than first planned. Even as US Airways tries to stave off oblivion with the America West deal, there's still a lot of skepticism in the marketplace about whether such a venture will succeed.

Even before US Airways entered its second bankruptcy in two years, the airline was talking about mergers as the wave of the future. Still, as US Airways and America West hope to conclude business by the end of the week, any deal struck will have to be approved by a bankruptcy court in Virginia.

FMI: www.usairways.com, www.americawest.com