Major airlines criticize Biden's air competition review, seek more time
Updates with USOT response, adds letter detail
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) -Groups representing major airlines on Friday criticized the Biden administration's broad public inquiry into the state of competition in air travel, saying the review needs more time and coulddramatically impact the future of U.S. aviation.
Carrier groups including Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association urged the Justice Department's Antitrust Division to extend the public comment period for another 60 days beyond the Dec. 23 deadline.
The government "should not rush the collection of information about the highly competitive air transportation marketplace, pull resources from high-tempo operations during the holiday season, or fail to collect the necessary information," they said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) said it would consider the airlines request for an extension. It added: "The American people deserve a healthy and competitive aviation sector that allows for reliable service, fair prices, and a wide availability of travel options for communities of all sizes."
The Justice Department didnot immediately comment.
Airlines and the Biden administration have repeatedly clashed in recent years.
The agencies want details on previous airline mergers, exclusionary conduct, airport access, aircraft manufacturing, airline ticket sales, pricing and rewards practices and the experiences of aviation workers.
U.S. President Joe Biden has made boosting airline competition a top priority and his administration has taken an aggressive approach to blocking consolidation efforts in the airline industry.
In September, USDOT opened a probe into the frequent flyer loyalty programs of major airlines and pressed them to adopt new customer service protections and is preparing to a release a proposal on delay compensation.
The letter from the groups - representing American Airlines, Delta Air Lines DAL.N, United Airlines UAL.O, Southwest Airlines LUV.N, FedEx FDX.N and others - said the extension request is aimed at identifying "future actions regarding competition matters in air transportation" adding, "the submissions could dramatically impact the future air transportation marketplace, including to the detriment of the American public".
The Justice Department successfully sued to block JetBlue Airways' JBLU.O planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines SAVE.N and went to court to force JetBlue to end its U.S. northeast partnership with American.
The USDOT also insisted on significant concessions before it allowed Alaska Airlines ALK.N to complete its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines.
Airlines for America said last week the timing of the inquiry 12 days before the November presidential election "suggests political motivations".
For decades, antitrust regulators approved a series of mergers that have resulted in four U.S. airlines - American, Delta, United and Southwest - controlling about 80% of the domestic passenger market.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Mike Harrison
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
