Originally Posted by
Auto Enthusiast
Divesting from some large airports wiill in some cases reduce competition. This is because corporate stores that do one-ways would be replaced with franchises that do not.
Ex, If Dollar/Thrifty corporate stores in, say the NYC airports, were accepting a FL driveout, midsize for $1/day beats Hertz's $5/day for a compact. However, if an independent licensee takes over those airports, and a different operator runs each FL station, or all the FL stations, the fleet is no longer interchangeable nationwide, and Hertz becomes the cheapest option. In fact, there'd be less reason for Hertz to stick with the $5/day lowest price point, since Avis and National tend to match each other, starting at $19.95/day.
You should have written to the FTC (or appeared during the hearings to make that point).
I don't know that it will change the availability all that much. Hertz will be divesting the facilities to Advantage but likely not much (if any) of the fleet. Thus, Hertz will still have pretty much the same number of cars available; they'll just be rented under two brands instead of three. That said, with less space in the facility and less spread across Travelocity's columns (two columns instead of three), the total aggregate business will shrink a little, and the fleet will likely be downsized slightly to accommodate the reduction in business.
Also, the plan isn't for the third brand to go away; they'll just have to move off-airport (at least until the next competitive bid for on-airport space comes around). It's not settled yet, and of course Hertz is now the one in control and will be making all of the decisions, but the thought is that Thrifty (as the slightly weaker brand perceived to be more value-oriented than Dollar) will be the one to move off-airport while Dollar will stay on-airport. Thus, a Dollar-to-Dollar one-way will still be available, as Hertz will likely keep Dollar's on-airport corporate locations. Thrifty-to-Thrifty one-ways will still be available; you just might have to deal with an off-airport shuttle at one or both ends.
Also, all of the divested locations will be corporate. No franchised Dollar or Thrifty locations will be moved to the Advantage brand. That means status quo at most smaller airports and a few midsized airports which are served by franchises.