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US: Airlines strike deal with DOJ

By  |  November 12, 2013

The US Department of Justice has announced it reached a settlement deal with American Airlines and US Airways in the airlines’ efforts to merge into the world’s market leader, a goal that lead the DOJ to block the merger in court.

According to reports, the $11 billion merger will be allowed to proceed following the divesture of takeoff and landing slots at seven “key constrained airport” gates in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Washington, according to the regulator. Those slots will be required to be transferred to budget airlines pending approval from the DOJ.

US Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer called the settlement “extensive” and “groundbreaking” in a press release. The deal, he said, disrupts “the cozy relationship among the incumbent legacy carriers.”

The lawsuit, set to begin trial on November 25, came as a surprise to some experts as the DOJ had cleared three mergers within the airline industry in the last five years.

Click here to read the full press release from the Department of Justice.

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