By Sara Forden and Andrew Zajac – Aug 28, 2013
The trial over the merger of AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) and US Airways Group Inc. should wait at least until March instead of starting in November, the U.S. government told a court.
Rushing to try the antitrust lawsuit isn’t a good idea given the case’s complexity and the potential for the merger to hurt competition and consumers, the Justice Department said in papers filed yesterday in federal court in Washington.
Short-term costs and uncertainties must be balanced against “the need for a full and fair exploration of the claims at issue, and the merger’s potential for long-term harm to consumers,” the government said.
Given the volume of trial materials to be exchanged, including interviews, expert testimony and data, “that is hardly a leisurely schedule,” it said.
The Justice Department’s request for a trial date of March 3 “is entirely unreasonable” given that the department has already been investigating the merger for more than 16 months, Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways and Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines said in a joint statement. The airlines proposed a November starting date for the trial….