A leading US business travel group is to warn politicians today (February 26) that higher airfares are likely following the merger between American Airlines and US Airways.
The Business Travel Coalition’s chairman Kevin Mitchell is due to speak before the US House of Representatives’ sub-committee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law.
BTC has spoken out against the merger of American and US Airways since it was first proposed last year. The deal to create the world’s largest airline was finally sealed last month but needs to be approved by regulators.
Mitchell has said that the new airline would mean “reduced competition, higher fares and fees, and diminished service to small and mid-size communities”.
The committee will also hear from Stephen Johnson, US Airways’ executive vice president for corporate and government affairs, and Gary Kennedy, senior vice president and general counsel
for American Airlines.
Mitchell said: “BTC’s testimony will illuminate the nexus between the merger and the IATA’s proposed new worldwide business model designed to substantially eliminate price competition by reducing airfare and ancillary fee transparency and comparison shopping for consumers and corporate travel departments.”
BTC produced a white paper last year warning about the potential competition issues if the two airlines were allowed to merge.