New white paper issued against AA-US Air merger

The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and Business Travel Coalition (BTC) have jointly produced a white paper that states that a merger between American Airlines (AA) and US Airways (US Air) could substantially reduce competition. This, the paper says, would lead to the creation of a four powerful, closed airline systems that control over 70% of the US market, which would be virtually impermeable to competition and could create a hostile environment for low-cost carriers and regional airlines. The white paper questions whether Southwest would be able to compete in such an environment.