US Airways is the nation's sixth largest airline and flies one third of the flights on the East Coast. Several airlines have said they'll honor US Airways tickets. I'm Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace. Marketplace's John Dimsdale checked out the buzz. Such an offer could kick off the first face to face negotiations in weeks.
Few people expect the company to voluntarily break itself up.
Instead, the speculation is Microsoft may offer to release some or all of the Windows software code. That would enable competitors to develop software that operates more seamlessly with the dominant PC operating system. Microsoft's stock price has been rising on the settlement rumors. David Readerman, who tracks Microsoft for Thomas Weisel Partners Merchant Bank in San Francisco, figures investors are expecting the government won't mess with the company's structure. As evidence of the company's weakness, they point out that just yesterday Microsoft admitted defeat in its effort to sell tax preparation software.