Sat, Nov 23, 2013
Letter Sent To Attorney General Eric Holder Concerning The Proposal
Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, along with Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing concern over the proposed settlement agreement with US Airways and American Airlines. The bipartisan leaders of the authorizing committees in the House and Senate, which are responsible for oversight of the U.S. aviation system, believe that service to small communities and rural states will suffer if the Department of Justice (DOJ) limits the allocation of divested slots and gates to only low cost airlines.
The Congressional leaders want to ensure that the DOJ considers both the need to promote competition in the airline industry and the need to preserve small community air service during the process of divesting a record number of slots and gates under the proposed US Airways and American Airlines settlement agreement. A copy of the letter was also sent to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
The chairmen and ranking members from the House and Senate noted that, "we fully anticipate that many of the slots and gates will ultimately be awarded to LCCs [low cost carriers]; we just believe the process should be open to all carriers.
"While LCCs may increase competition on commercial air service to larger markets, they do not generally provide service to smaller communities or rural areas, as only legacy air carriers have networks that encompass these areas.”
The bipartisan, bicameral letter highlights this fact based on the DOJ’s Amended Complaint to the U.S. District Court, which notes that “‘[i]n many relevant markets, these airlines do not offer any service at all.’ Accordingly, the implicit or explicit preclusion regarding which carriers can bid on the slots and gates to be divested by the newly constituted airline eliminates almost any chance in the short or long-term that overall network service to smaller communities and less populated states and regions will see direct benefits from these historically significant gate and slot divestitures."
More News
Takeoff Roll The process whereby an aircraft is aligned with the runway centerline and the aircraft is moving with the intent to take off. For helicopters, this pertains to the act>[...]
“We’re proud of the hard work that went into receiving this validation, and it will be a welcome relief to our customers in the European Union. We couldn’t be mor>[...]
Also: 1800th E-Jet, Uncle Sam Sues For Landing Gear, Embraer Ag Plane, Textron Parts A friend of the family reported that Lt. Col. (Ret.) Richard Glenn Rutan flew west on Friday, M>[...]
Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]
"Aircraft Spruce is pleased to announce the acquisition of the parts distribution operations of Wag-Aero. Wag-Aero was founded in the 1960’s by Dick and Bobbie Wagner in the >[...]