Timeline: Major U.S. Airline Merger Activity, 1950-2015

With American Airlines and US Airways in the process of merging, we wondered exactly how many mergers have shaped the industry into what it is today.

The chart below, created in part using Aviation Week Intelligence Network's Fleet database, shows all U.S. major airlines and the airlines they've absorbed, if any, since 1950.

With the numerous mergers that have taken place in the past 65 years, it's a safe bet that there are more to come. The obvious question, of course, is who and when?

(Click the image for a larger version.)