To avoid a negative impact on travelers
Related topics: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, US Department of Justice, JetBlue, Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Pete Buttigieg, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines
March 8, 2023
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He United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to try to block the purchase of the low-cost airline Spirit Airlines by the airline JetBlue.
The announcement, made last Tuesday March 7 by the US attorney general, Merrick Garlandcomes following various US media advanced that the government of the Democrat Joe Biden I would try to avoid the merger.
“Suppressing the competition between JetBlue and Spirit would eliminate Spirit’s unique and disruptive role in the industry and would do significant harm to consumers,” said the head of the Justice portfolio.
He explained that the US believes that the purchase of the low-cost airline for 3.8 billion dollars would have a negative impact on travelers, who would see their flight offer reduced while the price of airline tickets would increase.
In that sense, Garland recalled that Spirit’s own board told its shareholders that JetBlue’s plan to reconfigure flights would result in “a decrease in capacity and increase prices for consumers.”
He argued that the merger would take place ” once morest the backdrop of an aviation industry that is already highly concentrated.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation, headed by Pete Buttigiegfaced numerous criticisms for its management of the air transport system, as a result of the waves of delays and cancellations of flights that the country experienced throughout 2022.
Buttigieg himself promised that he will take action once morest airlines if they do not take the necessary actions to protect consumers, most recently in the case of the airline Southwest and his spate of flight cancellations over Christmas.
According to data from the Department of Justice, the four largest airlines in the United States, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines control 80% of the market, according to EFE.
