The Biden administration is launching a wide-ranging probe into the state of air journey within the U.S.
The U.S. Division of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the U.S. Division of Transportation on Thursday collectively introduced a “broad public inquiry into the state of competitors” within the trade.
As a part of that inquiry, the federal authorities is looking for a swath of knowledge, starting from the consequences of previous airline mergers to airport entry and airways’ ways in the case of ticket pricing — together with rewards packages.
“With this inquiry, we hope to study extra from the companies and vacationers on the heart of this important trade,” Assistant Legal professional Basic Jonathan Kanter stated in an announcement saying the information.
“Our aim with this inquiry is to determine and take away obstacles to competitors in order that extra Individuals can entry the alternatives that include good, inexpensive air service,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg added.
A commerce group for the biggest U.S. airways slammed the inquiry as politically motivated, coming 12 days earlier than the presidential election— and argued the trade “has by no means been extra aggressive,” pointing to DOT information suggesting airfare immediately, adjusted for inflation, is at historic lows.
“We sit up for sharing with authorities their very own information that reveals simply how aggressive the trade is,” a spokesperson for the group Airways for America stated in an announcement to TPG Thursday.
Heightened airline trade scrutiny
The Biden administration has taken a tougher line on competitors and shopper protections within the airline trade.
The DOJ efficiently blocked American Airways’ Northeast Alliance with JetBlue, and did the identical with JetBlue’s proposed merger with Spirit Airways. Extra just lately, the Biden administration greenlit Alaska Airways’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airways, however extracted key concessions from the service on shopper protections within the course of.
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Underneath Buttigieg, the DOT has additionally publicly pressured airways to enhance customer support ensures for passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations, and handed or proposed extra stringent guidelines surrounding accessibility of air journey and passenger rights.
This month, stricter passenger refund guidelines rolled out by the DOT, later codified within the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, take impact.
Current months have additionally seen federal companies and congressional leaders step up scrutiny of airline frequent flyer packages.
Backside line
As a part of this newest inquiry into airline trade competitors, the general public could have 60 days to weigh in on a spread of things, from pricing and rewards practices to airport entry and “exclusionary conduct” within the aviation trade.
That public remark interval is ready to wrap up Dec. 23. With a brand new presidential administration set to take workplace lower than a month later, on Jan. 20, it is unclear what may turn out to be of that inquiry.
Earlier than this yr’s Alaska-Hawaiian merger, it had been near a decade because the final huge airline merger within the U.S., however the decade earlier than that noticed a wave of mergers that lowered the variety of giant U.S. airways to simply 4 huge carriers that immediately management practically 80% of the U.S. market.
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