For US Airways, it's familiar territory — the airline failed to secure the government's blessing in 2001 for its merger with United Airlines and abandoned the deal. The concerns raised then, albeit in a much different, pre-9/11 context, presaged objections to the deal now: How much consolidation is too much in the airline industry?
In last week's suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department seemingly concluded that a tipping point has been reached. While the mergers of Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. in 2008 and United Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. in 2010 passed antitrust muster with minimal concessions, regulators now have drawn a line: The combination of American, the fourth-biggest U.S. airline, with No. 5 US Airways goes too far.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
