. >> in 28, delta joined forces with northwest, in 2010, united couples with continental, and two years ago, two of the smallest carriers southwest and air tran merged as well. all of these mean there will now be four big carriers controlling 70% of the domestic travel in the united states. countying us now, and the ceo of compare compare, dedicated to getting the best flight deals. in the studio, the executive director of the national association of airline passengers and from minneapolis, terry trip, an aviation analyst who run as consumer website called the plain rules. let me start with you, this was not looking good, this merger, then suddenly the clouds parted the impediments disappeared and they were back in business. what did the two carriers have to do to get attorney general holder's blessing? >> well i think they started picking at it. the attorney generals got them to flip some of their positions on things. based on things they wanted to handle and then slowly but surely, you could tell last week, when southwest file add brief, that they were really talking turkey on what ki