Airline mergers, consolidation and realignments haven't been kind to St. Louis in recent years.

So it wouldn't be surprising if there was a bit of hand-wringing following the news that Lambert-St. Louis International Airport's biggest carrier, Southwest Airlines, is planning to buy one of the airport's smallest, AirTran Holdings.

At first glance, it doesn't seem like the sort of deal that would have much impact locally. AirTran operates just eight flights a day from Lambert — to Atlanta, Orlando and Milwaukee — suggesting there's not a lot to be lost, even in a worst-case scenario.

And there could even be good news coming this way if St. Louis begins to play more prominently in Southwest's strategy.

Analysts say the Atlanta route is sure to stay, along with the Milwaukee one. The Orlando route, however, could be jeopardy, because Southwest also serves that market. It's the sort of situation that's sure to get a hard look by Southwest planners as they search for ways to be efficient.

"They'll want to reduce the number of flights to have fuller aircraft," said Bijan Vasigh, a professor of air transportation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Of course, it's still early to predict exactly what the merger of Southwest Airlines and AirTran would mean for Lambert, which is far away from the action on a deal that has broader implications in Atlanta and the Northeast.

"These things can take a year to work out. And this is day one," said Jeff Lea, Lambert spokesman.

The airport is hoping to avoid losing any more flights and would like to see more routes opening up, like the daily Alaska Airlines Seattle-St. Louis flight that debuted Monday evening.

One new flight, however, falls far short of making up for all of the flights lost during an American Airlines retrenching that trimmed more than half of its daily flights and made Southwest the airport's biggest airline.

There have been a few other small victories. Delta Air Lines, for example, plans to add four daily flights to Washington-Reagan National Airport in the fall.

But considering the state of the industry and the nation's economy, analysts say it's unlikely the airport will make any sudden major gains.

"There are definitely some opportunities," said Brett Snyder, an airline consultant in Long Beach, Calif., who writes the consumer-focused Cranky Flier blog. "But I wouldn't expect anyone to come in and open up a mini-hub."

The airport's best hope for growth may be tied to Southwest and its battle with traditional carriers like American and United Airlines, said Vaughn Cordle, a managing partner and chief analyst for Washington-based Airline Forecasts.

Lambert could see its traffic increase if Southwest decides to use it more frequently — rather than Chicago — as a stopping point between its East and West Coast flights.

Midsized cities like St. Louis may represent the best opportunity for low-cost carriers like Southwest who have already taken advantage of easier opportunities elsewhere, Cordle said.

"There's really no other places left for them to grow," he said. "I wouldn't count St. Louis out."

On a large scale, analysts say the $1.4 billion deal — which is expected to close in the first half of next year, with the merger completed in 2012 — is primarily geared toward allowing Southwest to grow quickly. It gives the Dallas-based carrier access to the key Atlanta market, where AirTran is a major player, and more routes to the Northeast. Both could put the carrier in a better position to compete for business travelers, who tend to pay higher fares than leisure travelers.

The acquisition would move Southwest, which already carries more passengers than any other American airline, into 37 new cities, including New York, and aid its international push with routes to Mexico and the Caribbean.

The buyout is the latest in a wave of consolidation in the airline industry. Continental Airlines and the parent of United will combine this week to replace Delta as the largest airline in the world. Delta got the title when it bought Northwest in 2008.

Even after the merger, Southwest will remain the fourth-largest airline by traffic. AirTran is the nation's eighth-largest airline.

With mergers of this sort, consumers typically find themselves both winning and losing, said Vasigh of Embry-Riddle.

Working against consumers is the loss of overlapping routes — a move that eliminates or reduces competition.

"No doubt about it. The prices will go up because there's less competition. That's Econ 101," Vasigh said.

On the other hand, customers of the merged airlines will find they have greater access to other cities and hubs. Southwest customers flying out of St. Louis, for example, will soon have access to Atlanta and a host of connecting cities.

Southwest also said it will drop AirTran's bag fees when the two combine. Right now, AirTran charges $20 for the first checked bag, $25 for the second. Some major airlines charge even more.

Last year, Southwest tried unsuccessfully to buy Frontier Airlines out of bankruptcy. Republic Airways Holdings won the auction for Frontier last August, buying it for about $109 million.

AirTran would be Southwest's largest acquisition by a wide margin. The company, which began with a handful of planes hopping among three Texas cities in the early 1970s, bought Morris Air and Muse Air in the mid-1980s. Two years ago, Southwest bought assets of ATA Airlines out of bankruptcy, which gave Southwest an opening to serve New York with ATA's takeoff and landing slots at LaGuardia Airport.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.