A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday approved a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and American Airlines and US Airways that will allow the airlines to proceed with their $11 billion merger, the Legal Times reported on Friday. The agreement will require the companies to give up takeoff and landing slots and gates at several major airports. The slots would be sold to low-cost carriers approved by the government. “The United States has provided a reasonable basis for concluding that the settlement will mitigate the anticompetitive effects of combining two of the remaining legacy airlines,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
