Originally Posted by ashill

My point is that I doubt the next DOJ will bring this in front of a judge if AS/AA/JL seek a joint venture, at least assuming the airline executives grease the administration as all the corporations are doing. I'm not making an argument on the merits for consumers or the legal chances with a pro-consumer administration in place.

(But a joint venture for trans-Pacific flights doesn't mean AA and AS wouldn't be competing domestically. CO and UA were separately in a joint venture with LH and AC before their merger (or at least applied to) but still competed domestically. And DL and NW were also in a joint venture with AF/KL before their merger while competing domestically. And UA and AC had a transatlantic joint venture before they had a joint business agreement on transborder routes in 2022. So there are lots of examples of courts approving international joint ventures between domestic airlines and/or joint ventures which exclude significant parts of the members' networks. They've looked much more favorably on international joint ventures than domestic ones, even with multiple domestic airlines involved.)