American Airlines, U.S. Airways say plan $11 billion merger

REUTERS - American Airlines and US Airways Group said they plan to merge in a deal that will form the world's biggest air carrier, which will have a combined equity value of $11 billion.

The merger caps a wave of consolidation that has helped put U.S. airlines on more solid financial footing.

The widely expected deal has been more than a year in the making. American, a unit of AMR Corp , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2011, and US Airways began its pursuit of a merger in early 2012.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs in Atlanta and Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore)