The government objected to the transaction for several reasons. It says that American and US Airways compete directly on more than 1,000 routes where one or both offer connecting service - more than 30 percent more routes than the United Airlines merger with Continental Airlines affected. Those routes represent "tens of billions of dollars" in annual revenue, according to regulators. According to the Justice Department, American and US Airways "engage in head-to-head competition with nonstop service on routes worth about $2 billion in annual routewide revenue." Removing that competition "would give the new airline the incentive and ability to raise airfares."