SEN. KERRY URGES DOT TO WITHHOLD APPROVAL OF UAL-U.S. AIRWAYS MERGER
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., has urged the government to withhold approval of the proposed United Airlines-U.S. Airways merger.
Such a combine would have a negative impact on competition, prices and service in the airline industry, Kerry said in letters sent to Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater and Acting Assistant Attorney General A. Douglass Melamed.
A deregulated environment requires competition in the airline industry, either by way of new entrants in the market or competition from low cost carriers, Kerry said.
Merging the two largest U.S. air carriers would likely lead to additional mergers, Kerry said.
A UAL-U.S. Airways merger would make the new airline the dominant carrier in the U.S., Kerry said.