If Airbus and Boeing are running through cash, you imagine what airlines are going through.Right now I'm just reading all the 10k's of all the airlines and combing through the balance sheets. While all other beaten down sectors have rallied a little bit all the airline stocks are trending downwards again, Southwest just hit the 52 week low last week.
As far as a merger it will get an initial pop on the news and more than likely a higher merger price depending on the terms. Also it'll be good long term because as we know the key thing is the routes that airlines have rights to. So a buyout or merger will increase the amount of routes that only that airline can fly.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-5243674