Overview
Joel Chefitz said that, although the Justice Department will investigate whether US airlines have conspired to restrict capacity, the air carriers’ conduct seems “perfectly consistent with independent actions” in a concentrated industry. Mr. Chefitz added that “it’s a concentrated industry because of mergers approved by the DoJ. It would be ironic to say the least for the DoJ to approve mergers creating an oligopoly” and then prosecute the airlines for following pricing cues from their rivals.