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A group of consumers who have sued American Airlines' bankrupt parent over its proposed merger with US Airways Group are now objecting to a settlement that would allow that merger to go forward, Reuters reported yesterday. California resident Carolyn Fjord, leading a proposed class of plaintiffs in an antitrust lawsuit against the two airlines, filed court papers yesterday arguing that consumers would be hurt by the tie-up, which would create the world's largest airline. It was the only objection filed ahead of a midday deadline to oppose the settlement, which was reached earlier this month in a separate dispute between the airlines and the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ had blocked the deal, which was to serve as the basis for American parent AMR Corp's exit from bankruptcy. The sides settled after the airlines agreed to give low-cost competitors more access to several key U.S. airports, including in New York and Washington, D.C. The settlement still needs bankruptcy court approval before the merger can close and AMR can exit bankruptcy. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. told regulators they’re interested in acquiring Washington, D.C., flight slots that may be available under a settlement of the U.S. lawsuit to block the American Airlines-US Airways Group Inc. merger, Bloomberg News reported today. The carriers want American and US Airways to give up as many slots as possible at Reagan National Airport. Southwest also is in discussions with the Justice Department about adding slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, one person said. Having a market for the slots would clear a possible hurdle as AMR Corp.’s American, US Airways and the Justice Department explore resolving the antitrust lawsuit filed Aug. 13 to block the merger. A post-merger American would have an unacceptably high 69 percent of Reagan National flights, the U.S. says.

U.S. antitrust authorities want to see a broad package of divestitures from AMR Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. as part of any deal to settle the government's challenge to their merger plan, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Justice Department's antitrust suit, which seeks to block the merger of AMR's American Airlines and US Airways, argues that the deal would harm consumers by reducing air service and increasing fares. It lists more than 1,000 routes on which regulators believed competition would suffer. The opening of settlement talks suggests that the government isn't taking an absolute stand against the deal, and that a trial isn't a certainty. At the same time, however, the airlines might resist the broad concessions that the government is seeking. The Justice Department's suit challenging the merger warns against overconcentration in the U.S. air-travel market if the deal goes ahead as planned, because it would leave the U.S. with just four airlines controlling more than 80 percent of the domestic market. Both sides have said they are prepared to go to trial, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 25.

American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. are in exploratory talks with the U.S. about settling the government’s lawsuit seeking to block their proposed merger, Bloomberg News reported today. The discussions are taking place between lawyers for the airlines and top officials at the Justice Department’s antitrust division. The airlines are offering to divest gates and landing and takeoff rights at Washington’s Reagan National Airport as part of a settlement package. The two airlines and the Justice Department said on Oct. 28 that they agreed to submit the lawsuit to mediation as suggested by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who’s overseeing the case. A trial is set to begin Nov. 25.

American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said “there’s a way” to reach a settlement with U.S. antitrust regulators seeking to block the merger of the AMR Corp. unit with US Airways Group Inc., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “If there’s a reasonable settlement, I think it’s better for both sides” than going to trial, Horton said. The suit is set for a Nov. 25 trial. A merger between Fort Worth, Texas-based American and US Airways would create the world’s largest airline. The all-stock merger is now valued at $16.6 billion, based on US Airways’ share price and its stake in the new American, which is counting on the deal as its exit strategy from bankruptcy.

Creditors said that American Airlines would have to start over in its effort to restructure in bankruptcy after two years if the U.S. succeeds in blocking the carrier’s planned merger with US Airways Group Inc., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The bankruptcy would go back “to square one with likely disruption and disarray among numerous, financially unaligned stakeholders,” the committee representing American’s unsecured creditors said in a court filing yesterday. American parent AMR Corp., which filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 29, 2011, was set to exit court protection by merging with Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways when the U.S. Justice Department and a group of states sued the carriers in August. The government says the merger would reduce competition while the airlines defend the deal as benefiting consumers. The trial is set to begin Nov. 25 in Washington, D.C.

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. reported a quarterly profit yesterday assisted by bankruptcy cost-cutting, Reuters reported yesterday. The carrier, which is looking to emerge from chapter 11 protection by merging with US Airways Group Inc., had net income of $289 million, or 76 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $238 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 6 percent to $6.8 billion.

A group of 68 Democratic House members wrote to President Obama, urging the Justice Department to drop its lawsuit against the proposed merger of American Airline and US Airways, USA Today reported today. The letter dated Oct. 15 was spearheaded by Reps. Marc Veasey of Texas, where American is based, and Ed Pastor of Arizona, where US Airways is based. The letter was signed by seven Texans, five Arizonans and a variety from states where the airlines have major hubs, such as six Floridians. The lawmakers urge Obama to consider the workers, the travelers and the communities that could be hurt if the lawsuit prevents the merger. The airlines and their unions are eager for the merger, which they say will enable them to compete better against recently merged Delta, United and Southwest airlines. Trial is set Nov. 25. The Justice Department is opposing the merger by arguing that it would limit competition in more than 1,000 pairs of cities served with flights with at least one connection by American and US Airways.

The U.S. Department of Justice, fighting a proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines parent AMR Corp., lost a bid to delay the case yesterday, Reuters reported yesterday. The Justice Department requested a delay after many of its attorneys and support staff were placed on furlough. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, however, turned down the request in an order issued on Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott also announced that his state was dropping out of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the merger, Reuters reported yesterday. Texas was one of several states that joined the Justice Department lawsuit, filed in August, that has sought to stop a deal it said would lead to higher airfares and less competition. The other states are Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia. The District of Columbia also opposes the deal.

The Justice Department said that it is allowed to withhold information about whom it interviewed in its analysis of AMR Corp.'s merger with US Airways Group Inc., information the airlines are seeking in their fight against a federal suit to block the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Justice Department said in a filing on Thursday that U.S. Supreme Court precedent protects the government from a "naked, general, demand" for the facts the airlines want. Such information could "necessarily reveal the opinions and mental processes of counsel, and therefore is improper," the government said in the filing with U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. US Airways and AMR, the parent of American Airlines, on Tuesday said that they wanted a court order forcing the Justice Department to turn over information about third parties that were interviewed, including their names and what they said. The carriers want the information, which they described as routine, to determine how the department reached it decision to block the merger.