The American Antitrust Institute applauds the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit initiated today to halt the possible merger of US Airways and American Airlines based on the risk of decreased competition and higher prices for air travelers.
The DOJ lawsuit falls on the one year anniversary of the release of a jointly produced White Paper by the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and Business Travel Coalition that reviewed the competitive issues raised by a possible merger of US Airways and American Airlines. The 28-page report can be downloaded here.
The White Paper, which was sent to the DOJ in August 2012, indicates that a merger between US Airways and American could: substantially reduce competition on a number of routes, create regional strongholds at key airports across the country, and starve smaller communities of important air service. “A US Airways-American combination poses potential concerns for competition and consumers,” explained Diana Moss, Vice President of the AAI who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights during the Committee’s hearing “The American Airlines/US Airways Merger: Consolidation, Competition, and Consumers” on March 19, 2013.
Media Contacts
Diana Moss
dmoss@antitrustinstitute.org
720-233-5971
Bert Foer
bfoer@antitrustinstitute.org
202-276-6002
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About American Antitrust Institute
The American Antitrust Institute is an independent Washington-based non-profit education, research, and advocacy organization. Our mission is to increase the role of competition, assure that competition works in the interests of consumers, and challenge abuses of concentrated economic power in the American and world economy. Our list of contributors is available upon request to aai@antitrustinstitute.org.
