ABC News Correspondent Jim Ryan, gave AM 820 News exclusive details from Dallas/Fort Worth, which is to be home base of the new company:
After months of setbacks and delays, the merger of American Airlines and US Airways to create the world’s largest airline became all but certain on Tuesday after the airlines reached a settlement with the Justice Department just two weeks before a scheduled trial.
The deal paves the way for the creation of a third major global airline that can compete with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which completed their own mergers in recent years, and sets the structure for the domestic airline industry for years to come.
The combination caps a tumultuous decade for the airlines, which have been hobbled by high fuel prices and plagued by several bankruptcies, including American’s.
It also opens a chapter in the history of the airline industry’s deregulation, leaving a handful of airlines to control most domestic and international flights — American, Delta, United and the domestic giant Southwest Airlines.
The Justice Department said the agreement would foster competition at busy markets like Washington and New York, opening opportunities for lower-cost carriers.
Source: New York Times
