Aug. 27, 2010 at 6:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Labor,
Litigation,
M&A,
Transportation,
Travel,
Unions,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Passengers at the United and Continental kiosks at O'Hare International Airport, May 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Justice Department approved the proposed merger of United and Continental airlines Friday, closing an unexpectedly speedy four-month investigation that paves the way for the mega-deal to close by Oct. 1.
To win the blessing of federal antitrust regulators, United and Continental agreed to lease slots for 18 round-trip flights to Southwest Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, beginning in March 2011.
Justice officials said the slot transfer was struck in “response to the department’s principal concerns” regarding the merger, which critics have warned will speed consolidation and eventually leave the three largest U.S. carriers with a lion’s share of the market. Get the full story »
Aug. 27, 2010 at 3:18 p.m.
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Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports
By Reuters
Continental Airlines will give up 36 slots at its Newark hub to Southwest Airlines in a bid to address antitrust concerns for its deal with United Airlines, the airlines said Friday.
The deal gives low-cost carrier Southwest the right to operate up to 18 daily roundtrip flights with some flights starting in March 2011. A full schedule is expected by June 2011.
The deal is contingent on the closing of a merger between Continental and United, a unit of UAL Corp, by November 30. Get the full story »
July 27, 2010 at 9:03 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
International,
M&A
By Julie Johnsson
The proposed merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines cleared its first regulatory hurdle on Tuesday, as the European Union said it would approve the deal. But the merger, which would create the largest airline in the world, must still pass muster with U.S. antitrust officials. The mega-deal is expected to face far more rigorous scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice, which isn’t expected to wrap up its probe until later this year.
European officials, in a review of the transaction that began on June 21, quickly determined that it wouldn’t adversely affect competition, given the relatively light overlap between United and Continental on trans-Atlantic routes.
However, the EU continues to separately investigate a proposed joint venture that would allow United, Continental, Air Canada and Germany’s Lufthansa AG to closely coordinate north Atlantic flights, as well as share revenues.
