Officials sue to block US Airways-American Airlines merger Antitrust officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday blocking the proposed $11 billion merger between US Airways and American Airlines" parent company, AMR Corp., saying the deal would hurt consumers by leading to higher fare prices and fees. The action puts the brakes on a merger that would have created the world's largest commercial air carrier and would have put 86 percent of U.S. air travel in the hands of four big airlines. It was worry over the latter, and the potential for the new airline to dominate some markets, that spurred Tuesday's lawsuit. Since 2000, 10 major airlines have completed mergers to become five. More business news Jena McGregor Treating employees like adults and trusting them to get their work done without burdensome rules is a good idea. But limitless time off also comes with an asterisk. Penney names Ronald Tysoe as a director to fill Ackman's seat. J.D. Harrison A letter sent out to 20,000 firms has some lawmakers accusing the agency of bullying small companies. The civil suit was filed by the Department of Justice, six state attorneys general and the District of Columbia. "By challenging this merger, the Department of Justice is saying that the American people deserve better," Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement Tuesday. This transaction would result in consumers paying the price - in higher airfares, higher fees and fewer choices. The parent company for the two airlines, AMR Corp., said it would fight the lawsuit in court rather than seek a compromise that might lead to a settlement. Integrating the complementary networks of American and US Airways to benefit passengers is the motivation for bringing these airlines together. Blocking this pro-competitive merger will deny customers access to a broader airline network that gives them more choices," a joint statement from the two airlines said. "This complaint is long on theater, and it's short on facts that connect the merger to all the harm that they're worried about," said a senior official for the airlines who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. They never address that, and that's the thing they have to prove in court. They need to prove that this merger is going to make things worse from a consumer-passenger perspective. Where is that? That's not in there. The official said the lawsuit could be litigated quickly and that the merger, which had been planned in the third quarter, still could be achieved by year's end. The federal government concluded that American Airlines and US Airways compete directly on more than 1,000 routes, representing business worth tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. Officials determined that erasing this competition would raise airfares. "If this merger goes forward, even a small increase in the price of airline tickets, checked bags or flight change fees would result in hundreds of millions of dollars of harm to American consumers," said Bill Baer, the Justice Department's top antitrust official. Baer added that both airlines have said they would succeed on their own without the merger going ahead. The Justice Department also singled out the effect the merger would have on Washington area fliers. The merged airline would become the dominant carrier at Reagan National Airport, officials said, controlling 69 percent of the takeoff and landing slots. As a result, the complaint said, Washington area passengers would probably see higher prices and fewer choices if the merger went through as proposed.