PANYNJ FILES COMMENT ON ANTI-TRUST IMMUNITY APPROVAL FOR DELTA AND WESTJET ALLIANCE
December 4, 2020
While the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s (PANYNJ) comments are moot because Delta and WestJet have withdrawn their application, we have included a summary of the comment because it is significant that PANYNJ filed a comment on the application. On November 20, 2020, PANYNJ filed a comment regarding the Department’s tentative grant of approval, subject to certain conditions, of antitrust immunity for the proposed alliance between Delta Air Lines and WestJet. As part of DOT’s tentative approval, DOT “identified likely competitive harm that stems from the proposed transaction’s impacts at LGA and believes a divestiture of [16] LGA slots equivalent to WestJet’s current holdings is required to address the harm.” As the operator of LGA, PANYNJ’s comments generally supported: i) the requirement that WestJet divest 16 slots at LGA; ii) the new entrant eligibility threshold of no greater than 10 percent of LGA slots; and iii) DOT’s plan to review this decision in five years. PANYNJ also recommended that: i) the single 16-slot bundle divested by WestJet be divided into two 8-slot bundles; ii) that DOT provides a reasonable window of time between the transfer of awarded slots and expected commencement of air carrier operations; and iii) that DOT limit eligibility of the divested slots to low cost and ultra-low cost carriers.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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