United Airlines could be merging with another carrier.

Crain’s Chicago Business reports the Elk Grove based airline has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore a possible merger.

Joe Schwieterman is an aviation expert from DePaul University.

He says the airline industry has experienced slow growth in the past couple years, which makes a merger more appealing.

“I think the odds are pretty good that in the end, the risks may exceed the benefits,” Schwieterman says. “But I think the fact that they’re bringing on one of the top firms in the country to explore the options shows that they’re not philosophically averse to this. The right thing comes along, really, things could happen pretty quickly.”

Schwieterman says Delta and Continental are among the most likely to contenders for a merger with United.

He says a merger between U.S. Airways and American West has been much more successful than most industry experts thought.