Newsstand - AMR's TWA Interest Renews Antitrust Fears

A proposal by American Airlines to widen its reach reignited antitrust concern on Monday over the prospect of ``mega-carriers'' with colossal power over the industry.

``This deal would trigger the airline consolidation we have feared in the wake of a proposed United-US Airways merger,'' said U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat and a leading congressional opponent of the United deal. ``It would be a travesty for the new administration to let this go forward.''
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-airlines-amr.html

Even before it has been officially announced, the American Airlines proposal to buy 20 percent of US Airways and swallow up the ailing Trans World Airlines is meeting stiff resistance from consumer advocates and some politicians.

The complex transaction involving five airlines first surfaced over the weekend. It is designed in part to ease Clinton administration concerns about United Airlines' proposed $4.3 billion bid for US Airways. But critics are already asserting that it would lead to a harmful concentration of power in the domestic airline industry, especially on the East Coast.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/09/business/09AIR.html


AND: It hasn't happened yet and may never, but the knives are out in anticipation of the merger between American Airlines and TWA, and American's related deal to buy a stake in US Airways.

If American buys Trans World Airlines (amex: TWA - news) and United Airlines goes ahead with its plan to buy US Airways (NYSE: U - news)--a portion of which United has agreed to deal to American--two airlines would control half of the U.S. market. That's too much for some consumer advocates and lawmakers, according to reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/010109/0109topairlines.html

AND:

TWA Agrees to American Buyout Offer
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum49/HTML/000270.html


[This message has been edited by doc (edited 01-10-2001).]

The megadeals that would give American and United airlines control of half the U.S. air travel market are running into swift opposition from consumer advocates and some politicians, who warn that passengers will face fewer choices, worse service and higher fares.
http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/010110/air_deals_.html


Yet:

American Airlines CEO Donald Carty insisted Wednesday that the carrier's plans to acquire Trans World Airlines out of bankruptcy is good for the industry, consumers and, eventually, shareholders. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
http://www2.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.a sp?source=blq/yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B02DB2CC1%2D82CC%2D4E27%2D9BB3%2D9103A9D853 A2%7D (http://www2.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B02DB2CC1%2D82CC%2D4E27%2D9BB3%2D9103A9D853 A2%7D)


AND:

The fate of the audacious plan that would give the nation's two largest airlines control of half the domestic air travel market is now in the hands of government regulators, several labor unions and a Delaware bankruptcy judge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/11/business/11AIR.html


[This message has been edited by doc (edited 01-10-2001).]

TWA Bankruptcy Points To American And United Dominating US Skies
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/01/979219533.html

AND: AA might find that negotiating multi-billion-dollar deals to buy parts of other airlines was just a warm-up for selling the transactions to pilots and flight attendants.
http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/010111/american_t_2.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 01-11-2001).]

In the wake of American's agreement this week to buy Trans World Airlines and part of US Airways, Mr. Carty is likely to come into sharper focus. He also now has the chance to put his unique stamp on American and reshape the overall industry as well.

If Mr. Carty's ambitious plans are successful, American and United Airlines, which is owned by the UAL Corporation, will be the nation's two dominant carriers, each with a route network much larger and more comprehensive than their nearest rivals. Together, United and American will carry half of all domestic passengers, placing themselves in a strong position to grow even larger.

But completing the deals will not be easy...
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/13/business/13AIR.html

In the wake of recent deals that would consolidate the airline industry in the hands of a few giant carriers, the Clinton administration plans to issue a last-minute call to police the industry more closely.

In a speech this evening in New York and at a news conference tomorrow, the departing Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater intends to release three studies criticizing the state of competition in air travel and laying out a blueprint for how the government can improve the situation, according to senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

But after receiving strong criticism from the airlines, some academics and the White House itself, and with less than a week left in the Clinton administration, Mr. Slater will stop short of issuing guidelines first proposed three years ago that would have put airlines on notice about how aggressively they could respond to low-fare competitors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/16/business/16AIR.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 01-16-2001).]