US carrier may consider mergers after bankruptcy

New York: AMR Corp's American Airlines plans to exit bankruptcy as a stand-alone carrier and would consider making acquisitions afterward, Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said.

"All of our energy and focus is on completing the restructuring as an independent company," Horton said on Friday in an interview at Bloomberg's New York headquarters. "We don't want to be distracted by the notion of mergers right now."

American wants to neg-otiate new union labour agreements as part of a plan unveiled last week to cut 13,000 jobs and cut annual operating costs by $2 billion (Dh7.35 billion), Horton said. That would damp the risk of outside offers for Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR and achieve a goal of leaving bankruptcy by year-end, he said.

The third-largest US airline became a take-over target after filing for court protection on Nov-ember 29. US Airways Group Inc has confirmed hiring advisers to examine a possible bid, while Delta Air Lines Inc has done the same, a person familiar with the matter has said.

Making an acquisition is a possibility after AMR reorganises, said Horton.