Southwest Airlines is purchasing 22 of the 34 takeoff and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport that American Airlines has given up in return for government approval of its merger with US Airways Group Inc. Virgin America plans to purchase the remaining 12.US Airways and American agreed to give up dozens of airport slots to settle a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice that sought to block the airlines from merging to create the world's largest carrier.Southwest confirmed the purchase in a company statement on Thursday, while the Federal Aviation Administration said in a waiver that Virgin America had permission to buy the 12 slots."We are pleased the U.S. Department of Justice approved our agreement with American Airlines to acquire these slots at LaGuardia," Bob Jordan, Southwest's executive vice president, said in a statement. "This is terrific news for low-fare customers who want greater access to New York City."
US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways Group) is a holding company whose primary business activity is the operation of a network air carrier through its wholly owned subsidiaries US Airways, Piedmont Airlines, Inc. Shares of LCC traded higher by 2.19% or $0.48/share to $22.35. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.10 and as high as $25.49. On average, 7753520 shares of LCC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 30729450.
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