United Airlines (UAL) Chief Executive Scott Kirby said that pursuing an acquisition of a smaller airline like JetBlue Airlines (JBLU) might not be worth the intensive effort required, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

In an interview, Kirby told The Times that "doing a merger takes a lot of calories and a lot of energy, and it's about the same amount of calories and energy regardless of the size of the merger."

The interview comes just days after Kirby raised the idea of a potential merger with American Airlines (AAL), but was rebuffed, according to the report.

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