“This is the best news that consumers could have possible gotten,” said Charlie Leocha, director of

The federal government latina escorts los angeles and six states, including latina escorts los angeles Tennessee, are challenging the proposed latina escorts los angeles merger of American Airlines and US Airways, saying it would cause "substantial harm" to consumers by leading to higher fares and fees.
The government's challenge threatens to quash a deal that would create the world's largest airline by passenger miles. The airlines could challenge the government in court, or possibly agree to concessions that would convince regulators to approve the merger.
The lawsuit caught many observers by surprise. In the last five years, antitrust regulators had allowed three other major airline mergers to go ahead, leaving five airlines in control of about 80 percent of domestic market. But the government argued that this merger would hurt consumers around the country by eliminating a competitor on more than 1,000 routes.
In Tennessee, Attorney General Bob Cooper latina escorts los angeles said the merger would reduce the current number of the larger "legacy" airlines from four to three – U.S. Airways/American, United/Continental and Delta/Northwest – and the number of major airlines to five to four. In fact, the three remaining legacy airlines and Southwest latina escorts los angeles would account for over 80 percent of domestic travel, making fare and fee increases easier to achieve and even more profitable for the airlines than they already are.
"Studies show that Tennessee's four major airports in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga will experience fewer flights to certain destinations latina escorts los angeles and travelers will pay more for remaining flights, " Cooper said. "If this merger is completed, consumers will face decreased competition and increased prices because airlines can cut service and raise prices with less fear of competitive responses from rivals."
Shares of both airlines plunged on news of the lawsuit. US Airways Group Inc. shares fell $1.66, latina escorts los angeles or 8.8 percent, to $17.16 in midday trading. AMR shares were taken off the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2011 but still trade over the counter; they were down $2.43, or 41.8 percent, to $3.38.
"This is the best news that consumers could have possible gotten," said Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance and member of a panel that advises the government on travel-consumer issues. He said that recent mergers latina escorts los angeles had led to higher fares and fewer flight choices and this one would have the same result.
latina escorts los angeles Analysts said that the Justice Department, which has been talking to the companies for months, could be seeking more time and leverage to squeeze out some concessions. Many experts had expected regulators to pressure American and US Airways into giving up some takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National Airport, allowing for new competitors at the busy airport, which is just across the Potomac River from downtown Washington.
Even outside the two companies, many in the airline industry had expected that the deal would easily win regulatory approval like Delta's purchase of Northwest, latina escorts los angeles United's combination with Continental, and Southwest' acquisition of AirTran.
Justice Department officials "didn't have any problem with the Northwest-Delta merger; didn't have any problem with United-Continental. Where did they think it was going to go?" said Robert Mann, an airline consultant who once worked at American.
AMR and US Airways announced in February that they planned to merge into a carrier with 6,700 daily flights and annual revenue of roughly $40 billion. By passenger traffic, latina escorts los angeles it would slightly eclipse United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Along with Southwest Airlines, the deal would leave four airlines dominating the U.S. market.
Mergers have helped the industry limit seats, push fares higher and return to profitability. AMR and US Airways officials had said their merger would help consumers by creating a tougher competitor for United and Delta.
AMR has cut labor costs and debt since it filed for bankruptcy protection. Pilots from both airlines have agreed latina escorts los angeles on steps that should make it easier to combine their groups under a single labor contract, a big hurdle latina escorts los angeles in many airline mergers.
A federal bankruptcy judge in New York was scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday to consider approving AMR's reorganization plan — one of the last steps before the merger latina escorts los angeles would be completed. The hearing was expected latina escorts los angeles to go ahead. The merger has been approved latina escorts los angeles overwhelmingly by AMR creditors and shareholders and by US Airways shareholders.
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department was joined by the attorneys latina escorts los angeles general from American's home state of Texas, US Airways' home state of Arizona, plus Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.