Continental Airlines board to decide on merger with United today

Continental Airlines board members are expected to meet Sunday afternoon and approve a merger with Chicago-based United Airlines.

For the past three weeks, the two carriers have been in negotiations to form the world’s largest airline.

Although neither airline has publicly acknowledged the talks, details of the merger plans have emerged.

The CEO of Houston-based Continental, Jeff Smisek, will be CEO of the merged carrier. The carrier will be based in Chicago and take the United name. United’s CEO Glenn Tilton will become non-executive chairman.

A formal announcement of the merger could come early Monday morning.

While Continental’s Houston hub is expected to remain a major hub in the merged carrier, it is not clear how many jobs in Houston will be lost because of the merger.