Would Delay The Proceedings Until March, 2014

While American Airlines and US Airways continue to call for a quick resolution to the Department of Justice's challenge to their merger, the DOJ appears to be in no rush to go to court.

In a filing with the U.S. District court this week the DOJ said that the airline's proposed November 12 trial date did not allow enough time for the department to research the impact of the marriage between the two carriers.

According to a report appearing in Buying Business Travel, American Airlines CEO Tom Horton wrote a letter to his staff saying that "we are focused on completing our merger with US Airways." Horton said the airlines stand ready now to make their case in court "for the merger's significant benefits to all of our stakeholders and the communities we serve.”

Meanwhile, the Unsecured Creditors Committee filed paperwork with the court supporting the early trial date. In their filing, the UCC said AMR would not be able to emerge from bankruptcy as a stand-alone airline. "The government is completely wrong to suggest that exacerbating the uncertainty regarding AMR's future is of no moment because AMR has a standalone plan of reorganization. On the contrary, AMR's current plan of reorganization, which is based on the Merger Agreement, is the only plan proposed to and voted on by creditors and stakeholders that is before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ("the Bankruptcy Court") presiding over AMR's pending Chapter 11 cases; there is no "Plan B" with regard to reorganization," the filing said.

FMI: www.justice.gov