Photo by bloomsberries, Flickr
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating collusion in the aviation industry, and Southwest, United and five other airlines could be in trouble.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the feds want to know whether these seven airlines worked together to limit available seats to keep ticket prices high. In subpoena letters sent out on Tuesday, they demanded all copies of communication between the airlines, their major shareholders and Wall Street analysts.
So far Delta, Southwest, United and American airlines say they have all gotten letters and are cooperating. AP writes:
“As a result of a series of mergers starting in 2008 (these airlines) now control more than 80 percent of the seats in US skies. They have eliminated unprofitable flights, filled a higher percentage of seats on planes and worked to slow growth in order to command higher airfares.”
Last week, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal put pressure on the DOJ to start digging, saying:
“I urge you to use all the tools at your disposal to punish this anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior. Consumers are paying sky-high fares and are trapped in an uncompetitive market.”
It’s not clear yet which three other airlines are under investigation, and JetBlue and Frontier stated authorities haven’t contacted them.