A number of questions have arisen in the wake of the DOJ’s lawsuit to stop the merger.
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and Business Travel Coalition (BTC) released “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) regarding the legal challenge to the proposed merger of US Airways and American Airlines by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorneys General of six states (Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) and the District of Columbia.
A number of questions have arisen in the wake of the DOJ’s lawsuit to stop the merger. “The FAQs are designed to provide airline consumers and industry stakeholders with a straightforward explanation of the many complex antitrust issues associated with the merger,” explained AAI’s Vice President, Diana Moss. “The action to block the merger is a significant effort by state and federal enforcers to safeguard airline competition and consumers for years to come,” added Moss.
The FAQs cover a number of topics involving the merger, ranging from the effect of the merger on competition and consumers, to the litigation process. The FAQs can be downloaded at http://btcnews.co/1dpyBRo.
Sample FAQs:
- Why would the DOJ block this airline merger and not previous airline mergers?
- How can DOJ and the airlines be so far apart in their estimates of how much the proposed merger will affect competition?
- Why can’t problems with the proposed merger be resolved by slot divestitures at Reagan Washington National airport?
- Won’t American fail without the merger?
- Won’t Southwest Airlines and other low-cost carriers ensure competition and keep the big legacy carriers, including a merged US Airways-American, in check?
- Why did the government address airline “ancillary” fees in the Complaint, and how is the move to challenge the merger related to other regulatory issues involving fees?
The AAI-BTC FAQs on the US Airways-AA merger note that competition enforcers have updated their merger analysis to reflect dramatically changed markets. “There is greater emphasis on system-wide consequences from reduced competition and from coordinated effects, that can include tacit agreements among airlines to reduce service and capacity, raise fares and fees, change consumer-facing policies, and lower quality,” stated BTC Chairman Kevin Mitchell.
“When there were nine major carriers in 2005, it made sense to focus analysis substantially on non-stop overlapping markets,” explained BTC’s Mitchell. “But when evaluating going from five to four major airline systems, connecting services become more prominent in their price disciplining role,” added Mitchell.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
