Moss Tells WSJ Code Sharing Deal Significantly Weakens Competition Between JetBlue and American

In an April 14, 2021 Wall Street Journal article, “American-JetBlue Alliance Draws Increased Scrutiny From Justice Department” AAI President Diana Moss commented on the Department of Justice’s antitrust probe of American Airlines’s partnership with JetBlue.

From the article:

Critics say so-called code-share agreements between airlines—in which they sell each other’s flights on some routes—can be problematic if the partner airlines are key rivals and retreat from hard-nosed competition.

That concern is acute at congested airport hubs—and on routes with few rivals—where there isn’t a lot of room for other airlines to step in and offer more competition, said Diana Moss, president of the American Antitrust Institute, a group that favors aggressive antitrust enforcement and has opposed airline-industry consolidation.

“This significantly weakens competition between JetBlue and American,” Ms. Moss said.