Aug. 14--More than 37 flight routes to and from Logan International Airport are among more than 1,000 nationwide that would be "anti-competitive" under a merger of American Airlines and US Airways, according to a Department of Justice lawsuit filed yesterday to block the union.
The $11 billion merger -- which would create the world's largest airline and result in four airlines controlling 80-plus percent of U.S. flights -- would reduce competition and lead to higher fares and fees, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Bill Baer said.
"Indeed, as our complaint shows, the management of US Airways, which will run the new airline, sees consolidation as a vehicle to reduce competition between the airlines and raise fees and fares," Baer said.
State attorneys general from Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, and the District of Columbia joined in the antitrust suit.
With a 13 percent market share, US Airways is Logan's third largest airline, while American is fifth with a 10 percent share. A DOJ analysis says routes on which American and US Airways now compete that would be anti-competitive include Boston flights to and from markets including Miami, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Honolulu and Dallas.
Both airlines vowed to fight the lawsuit. In bankruptcy since 2011, American had structured its exit around the merger, and a court confirmation hearing was set for tomorrow.
The "11th hour" lawsuit is excessively aggressive and unnecessary, said travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, particularly since the DOJ allowed three other mergers, including those of United Airlines and Continental, and Delta Airlines and Northwest.
Airfarewatchdog.com founder George Hobica doesn't see it leading to big airfare hikes: "I don't think we've seen a drastic increase even with the previous three large mergers."
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