House committee to hold hearing on U.S. Air-American Airlines merger

The House committee responsible for preventing antitrust law violations will hold a hearing next week to look at the proposed merger between U.S. Airways and American Airlines.

The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to review the $11 billion agreement between the airlines. 

U.S. Air and American, which formally announced their merger last week, have said that their combination will create the largest airline in the world.

The companies, based in Tempe, Ariz., and Fort Worth, Texas respectively, have been in negotiations to combine for the better part of a year. The talks, which American initially resisted, began when it entered bankruptcy in late 2011.

The House meeting to review the potential deal will be chaired the antitrust panel's chairman, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).

Other lawmakers have also promised to hold hearings on the move, such as the highest-ranking Democrat and Republican on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee.

“During my time in the Senate I have worked hard to keep the airline industry competitive to make sure companies retain jobs, maintain service levels and keep prices low for travelers,” the Senate panel's chairwoman, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), said in a statement after the merger was announced.

“As chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee I plan to hold a hearing to thoroughly review the proposed merger and examine its impact on competition and consumers,” Klobuchar continued.

U.S. Air and American have said that the combined airline that will emerge from the deal will be known as American and it will be run by U.S. Airways CEO Doug Parker.

If it is approved by federal regulators, the U.S. Airways-American merger will the fourth major airline combination in recent years. It follows deals between Delta and Northwest Airlines, United and Continental Airlines, and Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways.

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