11.   Boeing spokesman Chris Villiers declined to say if the two airlines had agreed to buy.

12.   A linkup of the two airlines would be the latest in a growing rank of trans-Atlantic airline alliances.

13.   A deal would help the two airlines keep pace with other large carriers as the industry consolidates.

14.   A spokesman for US Airways referred calls to Shuttle because the two airlines have separate labor agreements with their pilots.

15.   Bouw said the partnership between the two airlines will not be affected by the sale, with management talks continuing on closer cooperation, including further synchronization of schedules.

16.   But that assumes that the other airlines do not go ahead with their alliances.

17.   But the other airlines continue to favor the hub system.

18.   But the positions of the two airlines subsequently grew apart.

19.   But the two airlines struggled for years to make the partnership work, a challenge that they are expected to again face with Alitalia.

20.   But two people who had knowledge of the talks between the two airlines and who insisted on anonymity said that they were in the early stages.