TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Transport Workers Union plans to deliver a petition with thousands of signatures calling for an end to a government lawsuit aimed at blocking the American Airlines-US Airways merger.
Union officials plan to deliver more than 8,000 signatures Thursday morning at the U.S. Department of Justice office in Tulsa.
The union says jobs at Tulsa's American Airlines maintenance facility could be in jeopardy if the merger is blocked.
They say the merger will protect good-paying U.S. jobs and give consumers the only real chance for competition after the Delta-United Airlines pairing.
The government says a merger would reduce competition and drive up the cost of travel for consumers. It would leave more than 80 percent of the U.S. travel market in control of four airlines — down from five.