US: Lawsuit revamps action against American, US Airways

A private lawsuit originally filed last summer has been amended to call for the undoing of American Airlines’ and US Airways’ merger, say reports.

Lawyers filed the amendment Friday to ask for a “final judgment of the divestiture requiring defendants to unwind their merger and permanently enjoining them from merging in the future,” just months after the airlines settled a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against the deal.

Reports say the original complaint had requested that the merger be halted while the case progressed, but the airlines have since completed their merger. Now, 40 plaintiffs are looking to undo what the DOJ allowed to happen after the airlines agreed to divest airport slots.

The plaintiffs are also seeking treble damages but US Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane denied that amendment as “the proposed amended complaint fails to assert a sufficient basis for treble damages.”

Judge Lane presided over American Airlines’ bankruptcy case as well.

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