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US: Airlines targeted in antitrust inquiry

By  |  July 1, 2015

The US Justice Department is investigating whether US airlines are working together to keep ticket prices high, spokeswoman Emily Pierce said on Wednesday.

Officials familiar with the antitrust investigation say the question is whether the major airlines are illegally coordinating with each other to limit capacity, which would have the effect of keeping fares up, to the detriment of passengers. The civil antitrust investigation by the Justice Department appears to focus on whether airlines illegally signaled to each other how quickly they would add new flights, routes and extra seats.

The Associated Press, which broke the story, said that the department was trying to determine whether the airlines were colluding to grow slowly in a bid to keep airfares high.

Full content: The Washington Post

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