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WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Transportation committee is asking the Justice Department to block the planned combination of United Airlines and Continental.
Congressman Jim Oberstar is a Democrat from Minnesota. He says the United-Continental deal will move the country toward having an airline system dominated by three mega-carriers. The deal would make United the world's largest airline.
In 2008, Oberstar opposed the purchase of Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines by Delta Air Lines. Antitrust regulators approved it anyway.
United and Continental have said only a handful of their domestic routes overlap.
The deal needs approval from antitrust regulators and shareholders. The companies are hoping to close it by the end of the year.
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