Daniel Rust, assistant director of the Center for Transportation Studies and assistant teaching professor of marketing at UMSL, talked with KSDK about airline mergers. (Photo by August Jennewein)

American Airlines and US Airways were given the government green light this week to complete a mega merger, making American the largest airline in the world.

So what does that mean for passengers?

Daniel Rust, assistant director of the Center for Transportation Studies and assistant teaching professor of marketing at the University of Missouri–St. Louis,  talked with KSDK (Channel 5) about what travelers at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport may expect in ticket pricing.

“It probably doesn’t bode well for those really rock bottom airfares, they’ve been generally creeping up,” Rust told KSDK. “And you’ll probably see that continue a bit. The airlines don’t have real incentives to lower prices a great deal and I think with a little more pricing power you’ll see them continue to creep up.”

Rust is an aviation expert who specializes in the history of commercial air travel in the United States. His May 2009 book, “Flying Across America: The Airline Passenger Experience,” chronicles the history of air travel from 1927 through 1978.