US moves to block American Airlines and US Airways merger

The US federal government and six states have taken legal action aimed at blocking a gigantic merger between American Airlines and US Airways.

The deal would create the world’s biggest airline, worth US $14bn (€10.5bn) on paper. The two airlines had expected to cruise towards a merger and were stunned by the lawsuit, which claims it would hurt competition and cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in higher fares and extra fees.