United-Continental deal clear final hurdle

The Justice Department signed off on the United-Continental merger that would create the world's largest airline.
The final hurdle required Continental to divest some slots and gates at Newark Airport. Continental already has over 70 percent of the flights from/to Newark. Adding United to the mix would have resulted in even more. The Justice Department otherwise found that the carriers had complementary routes.

Southwest Airlines is expected to pick up the slots vacated by Continental. It is expected that some of those routes will be peak and non-peak.

Analysts agreed that giving up these slots was a small price to pay for the merger to clear anti-trust concerns.