The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday jointly announced a public inquiry into the state of competition in air travel.
In an issued request for information, the agencies are seeking public feedback on consolidation, anticompetitive conduct, and several issues affecting the availability and affordability of air travel options. Topics in the RFI include the state of competition in the aviation sector; previous airline mergers and exclusionary conduct; airport access; aircraft manufacturing; airline sales channels, pricing and rewards programs; and the experiences of aviation workers and labor market issues.
"With this inquiry, we hope to learn more from the businesses and travelers at the center of this essential industry," assistant attorney general Jonathan Kanter wrote in a statement.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement added that "good service and fair prices depend on ensuring that there is real competition, which is especially challenging for the many American communities that have lost service amid airline consolidation."
The public will have until Dec. 23 to submit comments to the request, according to the agencies.
The airline industry group Airlines for America in an emailed statement said it "has been talking about robust airline competition for years, and unfortunately the timing of this 'broad inquiry,' which was announced 12 days before a national election, suggests political motivations."
A4A said that multiple surveys have shown airline customer satisfaction is at an all-time high as is air travel demand, DOT figures show that airfares are at historic lows when adjusted for inflation, nearly 90 percent of American have flown and that Buttigieg "himself praised airlines' operations this year."
"The U.S. airline industry has never been more competitive, and this administration's regulatory overreach has disproportionately hurt ULCCs and disadvantages those who can least afford air travel," A4A wrote. "We look forward to sharing with government their own data that shows just how competitive the industry is."
The U.S. Travel Association in a statement called the move "another in a long line of disappointing political stunts," seconding A4A's comments that airfares are at new lows and air travel demand is at historic highs. "Yet air travel could be improved—by investing in technology, funding airport improvements and addressing the shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers. Rather than solve these serious, complex and long-standing problems, the Biden administration is choosing to politicize the air travel process and, in so choosing, fail the American traveler."
The DOJ antitrust division in recent years has ruled to terminate the Northeast Alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue, and blocked the proposed merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines.