DOJ SUES TO PREVENT UNITED-DELTA SLOT SWAP

December 9, 2015

Days after the five low-cost carriers sent the above letter complaining about the lack of slot access at New York City airports, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to block a slot-swap agreement between Delta and United.  DOJ claimed that the deal, which would involve United acquiring 24 slots from Delta at EWR, would further contribute to United’s dominant position at the airport and lead to higher airfares and fewer choices for the 35 million passenger a year who use EWR.  DOJ also alleged that United does not use as many as 82 slots a day that could otherwise be used by competitors.  DOJ chose not to challenge a related deal that involves Delta acquiring a similar number of slot pairs from United at JFK; DOJ noted a different competitive environment at JFK to explain its enforcement posture.

If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).

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