The announced merger of Continental and United may or may not be great for travelers. Eliminating an airline will certainly not help to lower fares, but it makes good business sense for both airlines.
What I found interesting was the brand strategy employed and I think they got it right. The new airline will be called United, but the logo will be that of Continental. This is a smart move from a number of perspectives. First, it unites (no pun intended) the two organizations and shows everyone that they are united--take the name from one and the logo from the other. Second, the United name is better from a number of perspectives--it stands for unity, which is what the two airlines were after; it is the better known airlines with the more important hub (Chicago versus Newark), and finally, the logo (the Continental world) demonstrates the global nature of the new airline as well as reminding people that Continental was part of the deal. This is important as well, not only for employees but also for customers since Continental has had a better reputation than United.
It is interesting that the new airline has decided to move to be based in Chicago with the CEO of Continental and the new CEO and the CEO of United moving to Chairman. Again, a compromise that works well for both organizations.
About 60-70% of mergers do not work as intended due to culture conflicts between the parties. I am not sure if this will be the case for the new United. Their new ads suggest that things got better for travelers. That I doubt. However, from a branding perspective, I think they got it right.
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