Originally Posted by
FWAAA
2. Current profits at US and AA absolutely prevent any argument of the failing company defense. Neither company is failing - they're both reporting record profits. The rampant speculation that AA and/or US will fail if the merger isn't approved is irrelevant ...
Which is why AA/US aren't using a failing company defense. I believe they have stated that not allowing them to merge puts them at a competitive disadvantage against UA and DL. But I haven't seen any statement by them that it means either airline's demise.
And the DOJ is using average fare increase data starting from a time period when those airlines were losing money, not when they were making money. Does the DOJ think that those airlines should revert back to their old fares and start losing money again?