An American Airlines plane and a US Airways plane are parked at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington. A Federal bankruptcy judge is approving the settlement in the U.S. government’s antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines and US Airways, clearing the airlines to complete their merger early December 2013.A federal bankruptcy judge has cleared the way for American Airlines and US Airways to complete their merger and create the world’s largest airline.
The judge ruled Wednesday that this month’s settlement of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the federal government didn’t upset American’s bankruptcy-reorganization plan, which is built around the merger. He rejected a request by a group of consumers to block the deal temporarily.
American said immediately after the ruling that it plans to complete the deal on Dec. 9.
The Justice Department had sued to block the deal in August, saying that it would hurt competition and lead to higher prices. But regulators settled their case in exchange for the airlines’ promise to surrender some coveted landing rights at Reagan National near Washington and LaGuardia in New York and a few gates at five other airports.
The new American Airlines will be slightly larger in passenger traffic than United Airlines, and four airlines — American, United, Delta and Southwest — will control more than 80 percent of the U.S. market. Since 2005, mergers will have cut the industry from nine big airlines to just those four.