U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today issued the following statements regarding the Department of Justice’s announcement that it was investigating potential collusion among certain airlines.
Senator Lee is chair and Senator Klobuchar is ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights.
“I am gravely concerned by the possibility that the airlines may have colluded to reduce capacity in order to artificially raise ticket fares,” Lee said. “Americans deserve a strong and competitive passenger airline industry that offers safe service and reasonable fares. Reports of anticompetitive practices, especially in a time of rapid industry concentration, deserve a high level of scrutiny. The airlines already benefit from unique protections, including protection from competition with foreign air carriers in the domestic marketplace and antitrust immunity for international airline alliances, and so they have an even weightier responsibility to scrupulously abide by the law.”
"Pricing in the airline industry has been a long-standing concern of everyone from families looking for an affordable vacation to small business owners trying to identify the best frequent flier program,” said Klobuchar. "The Justice Department must ensure that airlines are not entering into agreements that raise prices. Ensuring healthy competition is the core concern of the Antitrust Subcommittee, and we will be reviewing these allegations to determine how best to protect American consumers."
