United Airlines parent UAL Corp and Continental Airlines Inc are considering a stock-for-stock merger with no premium, creating a company valued at roughly $6.6 billion, Bloomberg News said on Thursday, citing two people with knowledge of the talks.

UAL Chief Executive Glenn Tilton would become chairman of the combined company, while Continental Chief Executive Jeff Smisek would become chief executive, the news service said, citing the people.

A merger might be more than a week away, it added, citing the people.

UAL spokeswoman Jean Medina and Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark declined to comment.

Earlier Thursday, US Airways Group Inc said it has dropped out of merger talks with UAL.

Many experts believe UAL entered talks with US Airways only to draw Continental, arguably a better match, into separate talks. Those talks are ongoing, people close to the matter said.

UAL shares closed Thursday up 28 cents at $21.71. Continental shares closed down 3 cents at $21.43.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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