Out Fox The $treet

The surprising announcement on Nov. 12 that the Department of Justice, or DOJ, had agreed to a settlement allowing the merger of US Airways ( NYSE: LCC     ) and AMR Corporation ( NASDAQOTH: AAMRQ     ) to form the new American Airlines Group, with an expected close in December 2013. With this settlement in place and the merger proceeding, investors can now review three important numbers for the new American Airlines, which place the new company at very favorable multiples against industry leader  Delta Air Lines  ( NYSE: DAL     ) . Slot pairs manageable The DOJ agreement obliges US Airways and AMR Corp. to give up 52 slot pairs at Washington Reagan National Airport, or DCA, and 17 slot pairs at New York LaGuardia Airport, or LGA. The new American also has to divest two gates and related support facilities each at Boston Logan International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Los Angeles Int...

When reviewing the numbers of Delta Airlines ( NYSE: DAL     ) , you might be shocked that it's, well, an airline. The domestic airline with the largest market cap is starting to act like a real corporate citizen: paying down debt, paying a dividend, and actually buying back company stock. And amazingly, it's achieved this success despite stubbornly high oil prices. Just last year, Delta bought a refinery in an attempt to dramatically reduce the costs of jet fuel. What originally looked like a desperate, ill-conceived move has become almost an afterthought, with Delta and other airlines reporting strong profits despite the high price of fuel. Even bankrupt  AMR (NASDAQOTH: AAMRQ) and its prospective partner  US Airways ( NYSE: LCC     ) are generating huge gains, despite fuel costs and a merger blocked by the Department of Justice. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long LCC. Please review the disclaimer page for more details....