So now a great battle rages for control of Canada's two national airlines.
Critics warn of monopoly or even American control.
Air Canada desperately wants to block any merger. We've been largely bonded by air, a sentiment skillfully nurtured by airline promos. Even 70 years ago, Ottawa saw the critical economic and political need to keep Canadian aviation free of United States' domination. It's still a core issue. That's why, in today's new world of shifting power battles between air behemoths, many fear takeovers could reduce us to just one national airline, and that one ultimately dominated by one of the mightiest air titans of all, American Airlines.