Originally Posted by
skitheline
The governments biggest argument is based on a selection of routes cherry picked from q3 2021 to q1 2022. The government will attempt to define a market, to argue a section 7 violation (almost the entirety of the basis for the case), through the selection of 51 routes Spirit and JetBlue compete directly on, of which 6 don’t even exist anymore.
The government has attempted to block previous mergers, United and Continental specifically, on the same basis but were shot down as you need to look at the market (read airline route structure) in its entirety and can’t focus on just one specific snapshot of the entire route structure. It’s also been argued that air lines are ever changing in nature and cannot be so narrowly defined into a specific market as they are constantly in motion and always changing. Therefore, it’s hard to argue a section 7 violation due to the nature of an airline being in constant change and adapting its flying to market changes over time.
I think it’s going to be a nail biter, but I wouldn’t call it a long shot. I really think the government case is extremely weak and this has a better chance of passing than we all may have been lead to believe by Elizabeth Warren.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket...s-corporation/
Yeah you nailed it. The DOJ wants to limit this to route by route pricing and not the totality of the entire airline industry. The DOJ even says the agreements with Frontier and Allegiant to divest gates is a worthless endeavor because nothing is guaranteed. This judge doesn't seem like he going to put up with any baloney with the tight schedule and limiting expert witness to one person per subject. DOJ is going all in for some court ruling to facilitate changing antitrust behavior in this country for eternity.