Airline Consolidation: Monopoly Power or Mature Industry?

Market concentration in the U.S. airline industry today raises concerns about the airlines having too much market power, undoing the benefits that consumers have gained in the past three decades. Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had allowed five major airline mergers in the past 11 years, despite expressing concerns in some of the cases. The concerns expressed by DOJ and others have centered around five aspects of the U.S. airline industry: scope of consolidation, prices, output, profits, and market barriers. This article first describes each of these aspects and then explores the confounding factors behind them. Confounding factors include price transparency and ancillary fees; improved network efficiencies; market saturation; changes in U.S. income distribution; and increases in airline productivity.

• Record URL:
  http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/175073.aspx
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07386826
• Authors:
  • Berry, Thomas
  • Harback, Katherine
  • Tsao, Simon
  • Welman, Stephen
• Publication Date: 2016-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Glossary; Photos; References;
• Pagination: pp 46-51
• Serial:
  • TR News
  • Issue Number: 304
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0738-6826

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airlines; Competition; Consolidations; Fees; Market assessment; Market dominance; Prices; Productivity; Profits
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Department of Justice
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01613782
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Oct 21 2016 4:34PM