%1

AMR Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. are seeking a court order requiring government officials to disclose the identities of people interviewed before filing a lawsuit seeking to halt the airlines’ proposed merger, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Justice Department has refused to turn over the names of those who were interviewed during the investigation of the proposed merger, the airlines said in a court filing yesterday. The U.S. claims the proposed merger of AMR’s American Airlines and US Airways would reduce competition, while the airlines defend the deal as good for consumers. The case is scheduled to begin trial Nov. 25.

US Airways Group and American Airlines yesterday said that they had extended their merger agreement as they fight a U.S. government lawsuit seeking to block the combination, which would form the world's largest airline, Reuters reported yesterday. The companies said that they extended the date by which either airline could terminate the merger pact to either Jan. 18, 2014, or the 15th day following the entry of a court order approving the merger should it be entered on or before Jan. 17, whichever is later. The previous termination date for the deal was Dec. 17.

US Airways and American Airlines, whose proposed merger has been stalled by U.S. government opposition, urged a court on Friday to require the Justice Department to turn over documents relating to its approval of four previous airline mergers, Reuters reported on Friday. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Aug. 13 to stop the planned merger of US Airways and American's parent, AMR Corp., arguing that the deal would lead to higher air fares and other fees. A judge will hear the case without a jury in November and decide whether the deal can go forward. The airlines have said that the merger is needed to help them compete in a rapidly consolidating industry.

US Airways Group Inc. rose to the highest close since federal antitrust regulators sued to block the planned merger with AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, a sign of investor optimism that the deal will occur, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. With yesterday’s 1.6 percent gain to $18.97, the shares rebounded past their price on the day before the U.S. Justice Department lawsuit was filed on Aug. 13. US Airways lost as much as 18 percent of its market value in the weeks after the government’s move. U.S. regulators stunned investors by opposing the merger, sending Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways to its biggest drop in 22 months and dragging down AMR’s shares 45 percent. Since then, the judge in AMR’s bankruptcy case approved the tie-up as part of the company’s chapter 11 exit, contingent on the outcome of the Justice Department’s suit.

Union members who work for American Airlines and US Airways Group rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday, urging the U.S. Justice Department to drop its opposition to a planned merger between the two airlines, Reuters reported yesterday. The rally by pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers and others also attracted a handful of the 300 lawmakers that the union representatives are meeting this week in hopes of building support for the deal. Representatives of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the Allied Pilots Association and US Airline Pilots Association and the Transport Workers Union also met yesterday with William Baer, the head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, to express displeasure over the lawsuit. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Aug. 13 to stop the planned merger between US Airways and American's parent, AMR Corp. The government argues that it would violate antitrust laws because it would lead to higher airfares and other fees. A judge will hear the case without a jury in November and decide whether the deal can go forward.

American Airlines’ plan to exit bankruptcy protection by merging with US Airways Group Inc. was approved by a judge who said a U.S. antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the deal was no reason to delay it, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The chapter 11 reorganization plan by AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, can’t take effect until the combination gets regulatory clearance, Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane said yesterday before approving the deal. “There can be no dispute that the plan is feasible if the merger succeeds,” he said. Judge Lane, who challenged a $20 million severance under the turnaround plan for AMR Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton, said it’s not uncommon for plans to be accepted under a cloud of regulatory uncertainty.

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group Inc ., whose expected merger has been held up by a Justice Department antitrust complaint that is slated to go to trial Nov. 25, yesterday reiterated their support for the merger and told AMR creditors that the two carriers plan to ask their respective boards to extend the merger termination date beyond its current Dec. 17 deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported today. If the stock-swap combination hasn't received regulatory approval by that date, then if a government order prohibits the deal or if either party wants to abandon it, the plan would die. However, the two airlines could extend the expiration date if both sides agree. Tom Horton, AMR's CEO, and Doug Parker, his counterpart at US Airways, said yesterday in response to questions from members of the creditors’ committee in AMR's bankruptcy case that they intend to do just that. The new potential termination date was not specified.

During the final six months before its dissolution, Dewey & LeBoeuf billed $4.6 million in fees and expenses for work as special counsel to bankrupt American Airlines parent company AMR Corp., American Law Daily reported today. Now, AMR attorneys are trying to trim $644,000 off that bill, citing what they view as unnecessary diligence completed by a partner as he prepared to leave then-foundering Dewey, as well as overpriced FedEx bills and charges for first-year associates prohibited by a contract covering the assignment. In an eight-page objection filed on Sept. 5, AMR lays out the allegedly extraneous charges submitted by Dewey, which represented the airline in several litigation and antitrust matters unrelated to the bankruptcy. A hearing on the objections is scheduled for September 12.

American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. may know by the end of the year whether their merger can proceed after they won a fast-track trial schedule for the U.S. lawsuit seeking to block the deal, Bloomberg News reported Saturday. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly set a Nov. 25 trial date during a hearing in federal court in Washington yesterday, saying that the March date proposed by the government was “too far off.” The ruling is a win for the airlines, which had sought a Nov. 12 trial date and said that waiting until March would put the merger at risk. The Justice Department had sought a March trial, while the airlines had pressed for November to resolve the case that is keeping AMR stuck in bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane, who is overseeing AMR’s bankruptcy case, delayed approval of its reorganization plan at a hearing Aug. 29 in Manhattan, during which he said arguments in favor of approval were “fairly persuasive.” He set the next hearing date for Sept. 12. AMR has argued that the antitrust trial doesn’t need to be completed for its plan to receive confirmation because the proposal is conditioned on obtaining regulatory approval and can’t take effect without it.

Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane yesterday hinted that he would approve AMR Corp.'s bankruptcy exit plan despite the government's challenge to its main component: AMR's planned megamerger with US Airways Group Inc., Reuters reported yesterday At a hearing yesterday, Judge Lane held off on confirming the plan for American Airlines' bankrupt parent, but said that he found "arguments in favor of confirmation to be fairly persuasive." In a lawsuit filed on Aug. 13, the U.S. Department of Justice sought to block the merger on antitrust grounds, alleging it would create too much consolidation and lead to higher fares for consumers. At an initial hearing on Aug. 15, Judge Lane voiced hesitation to give his blessing to a plan that might change later, namely through a settlement with the DOJ that could include divestitures.