Justice Dept in talks with Alaska Air on Virgin deal Ðsources

Alaska Air pressed on with talks with the US Justice Dept to reach a deal for approval to buy Virgin America, two people close to the matter said Monday as a deadline for the govt to complete the merger review passed. The late-stage discussions included the possibility of Alaska jettisoning part of one or more code-sharing agreements it has with larger US carriers as a concession for winning antitrust approval, one of the people said. Alaska Air and Virgin America had agreed not to close their merger until Oct 17 so the JD could finish its review. The merger would open the possibility of the airlines agreeing to share codes on flights currently operated by Virgin America, which might alter competition at a time when the top four carriers control more than 80% of the US market. <br/>