The Department and six US states will ask a federal judge in Washington to block the move, arguing that passenger fares would increase as a result of reduced competition after the merger. But Rich Parker, anti-trust specialist at the law firm and adviser to US Airways, says that competition would be increased by the merger. Referring to US Airways and American Airlines, he told a press conference: 'I can say both of these companies are looking forward with confidence to our day in court.' He added, according to the Star Telegram: 'They got this one wrong.' The case is expected to be heard by the end of the year, and has been assigned to District Juge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. 

Failed discussions

Lawyers are divided in the press about the outcome. 'My take is that the deal is dead,' anti-trust specialist Allen Grunes of GeyerGorey told Bloomberg News. Craig Wildfang of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi said: 'Typically, the government will have already had extensive settlement discussion with the parties. The decision to sue only comes after settlement discussions have failed, although that doesn’t mean they can’t come back and take another shot at it.'