US Airways’ shareholders have approved the carrier’s $11 billion merger with American Airlines.
The boards of the two carriers agreed to the merger in February which will create the world’s biggest airline under the American Airlines name.
This deal cleared another major hurdle today (July 12) when 99 per cent of US Airways shareholders voted in favour of the merger at a meeting in the US. The airlines expect to be able to complete the merger in the third quarter (between July and September).
US Airways' CEO Doug Parker, who will become boss of the combined company, said, "We are pleased that our shareholders overwhelmingly supported our merger with American Airlines. This approval is a major milestone on our path to completing the merger, and we continue to make excellent progress overall thanks to the focused efforts of the dedicated representatives from both companies.
"By bringing together two highly complementary networks and generating significant revenue synergies, the new American Airlines will deliver enhanced value for its shareholders."
The merger still has to be given clearance by the US Department of Justice which is reviewing the proposed deal over its impact on competition in the aviation market.
The US-based Business Travel Coalition has expressed fears that the American-US Airways deal could lead to less competition and higher fares.
American Airlines has been bankruptcy protection since November 2011. The merger with US Airways was approved by American’s bankruptcy judge in March but its "plan of reorganisation" still has to be cleared by the US Bankruptcy Court in New York.