Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: House antitrust subcommittee holds hearing on U.S. airline industry, (Jun 25, 2026)

By Justin Marcus Smith, J.D.

The hearing examined U.S. airline industry competition and regulation, market structure, recent mergers and acquisitions, with frequent references to the Spirit bankruptcy.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, held a hearing on Thursday, June 24, 2026, entitled, “The 30,000 Foot View: Competition and Regulation in the U.S. Airline Industry.” Representatives Becca Balint (D-VT) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee, opened the hearing with remarks which were then followed by testimony from and questioning of four witnesses. The committee aimed to examine whether decades of airline consolidation, weakened antitrust enforcement, and rising fuel costs tied to the de facto war on Iran are driving up prices and limiting choices for Americans.

Opening remarks. In opening remarks, Committee Chair Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) emphasized his view of increased air travel and choice since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. He characterized the prior regulatory regime of the Civil Aeronautics Board as “severely flawed” because it involved the government choosing which carriers could fly, and where and when they could fly. However, he acknowledged that although deregulation increased consumer choice through competition, that same competitive pressure also led, over time, to bankruptcies and consolidation. Today’s airline industry is “more concentrated than ever before.” He also said modern regulation continues to favor incumbent carriers, for example, through slot allocations that often involve high concentration and pose competitive barriers. Environmental regulations, meanwhile, constrain airport expansion. Fitzgerald made it clear he views government regulation as largely counterproductive.

In his view, the bankruptcy of Spirit Airlines bankruptcy after the blocked merger with Jet Blue “offers a cautionary tale of government over-regulation.” He suggested the blocked merger never had a chance to test whether it would be large enough to compete against the four dominant air carriers: American; Delta; Southwest; and United. He said antitrust enforcement should emphasize competition over maintaining the status quo.

Rep. Balint’s opening remarks began with a strong reaction to Fitzgerald’s characterization of consumer choice in air travel. She emphasized her view that tickets cost more, more flights are canceled, and everything from seat selections to carry-ons are now upsold, they are no longer perks. She said this is the predictable result of consolidation from 40 to 4 airlines. Consolidation has only raised costs. It is not competition.

Balint said it was shocking to hear United Airlines, the fourth largest airline, float the idea of merging with American Airlines, the second largest. She continued that Democrats blocked the Spirit-JetBlue merger because evidence showed it would raise fares by up to 40 percent on dozens of routes.

Countering Republican arguments about over-regulation, Balint said Spirit went bankrupt due to the massive spike in jet fuel costs that are a direct result of President Trump’s “unconstitutional war with Iran.” Balint called for a Congressional war resolution because, among several concerns, the Iran war is causing a “rolling series of financial blows to Americans across this country.”

Balint wrapped-up her remarks with the observation that flying is not a perk in a country this size, it is a necessity, yet the Trump Administration has “spent the last year pandering” to “wealthy friends.” For example, the Trump Department of Transportation rolled back cash refunds to consumers.

Balint concluded that Americans want choices, not a handful of companies controlling and limiting freedom of choice. She said she would keep pressing the current Administration on their “perversion” of antitrust enforcement.

Ranking Member Raskin offered similar opening remarks. He agreed with Balint that Spirit collapsed because the “illegal” Iran war raised the cost of jet fuel. The jet fuel increase was a “death sentence.” He referred to corporate filings essentially stating that as fact and deemed the attempt to blame over-zealous antitrust enforcement “comical.”

Turning to consolidation throughout the economy, Raskin said only a vanishing number of small companies are thriving. He cited that the Financial Times recently analyzed that just one percent, only five of the S&P 500 companies, accounted for 50% of S&P index growth. Similar dynamics are playing out in the airline industry, with the four largest carriers having handled about 60% of domestic traffic in 2000 compared to 80% today.

Raskin continued that protecting competition requires regulators “willing to say no to corporate consolidation.” He offered a very different view of the Spirit JetBlue merger block. Spirit continued to operate in a way economists have nicknamed “the Spirit effect.” Spirit’s ultra-low-cost approach kept American Airlines prices down on the same route. He noted Judge Young, the Reagan -appointed judge who upheld the DOJ decision to block the merger, explained it would have eliminated one of the few competitors that could bring innovation and price discipline, even in relation to JetBlue.

Raskin continued that while the country needs more antitrust enforcement, the Trump Administration has “twisted and corrupted [it] beyond recognition.” He claimed it has become “just one more grift” for the personal wealth maximization of the President and his “enablers” to the point that antitrust practitioners now allegedly speak openly about a “Trump transaction tax” as a willingness to “curry subjective political and financial favor with the President.”

To support his claim, Raskin offered a critical view the cleared Nexstar-Tegna local broadcast merger; settlement of Live Nation-Ticketmaster on terms he said did not address sweeping harms to artists, venues, and consumers; and clearance of the Paramount-Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal before career investigators had even finished their antitrust analysis.

Raskin said that every senior antitrust official that raised concerns about this “pattern” of concentration and consolidation, including Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater and her Principal Deputy Attorney General Roger Alford, has been “pushed out or fired for the offense of simply doing their jobs.”

Raskin concluded the committee should do serious oversight of the “smashed” antitrust enforcement system instead of “concocting a cover story for the President” by blaming the Biden Administration for tariffs and the present situation with Iran.

Witness statements.Chris Sununu, former Governor of New Hampshire and current President of Airlines for America, was the first witness. Sununu said the defining story in recent decades has been the “extensive expansion of consumer choice and travel options.” He acknowledged recent headwinds, including two government shutdowns which cost airlines billions, while fuel prices took $8 billion out of the airlines this year. However, he said aggressive competition prevents the airlines from passing-on the entirety of those costs to consumers.

Sununu continued that the dramatic expansion of the variety of airline business models has expanded travel options. Consumers can customize their journeys, and today 1 in 2 Americans fly, compared to 1 in 5 in the 1970s. Airlines are an “affordability success story for the American public” and are garnering high customer satisfaction. Most importantly, airlines have doubled wages and benefits since 2025.

Sununu wrapped-up his remarks saying attention must be paid to the “woeful” air traffic control system. Technology gaps must be closed. This is an opportunity for bipartisan cooperation. Sununu concluded the American traveler “needs Congress to support policies that allow this competitive marketplace to thrive, prevents additional costs to the consumers, and ensures we continue to invest in the safest airspace in the world.”

Timothy Ravich, Senior Counsel, Tressler LLP was the second witness. Ravich opened his remarks by quoting President Reagan: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Even so, it was Senator Edward Kennedy that championed airline deregulation, one of the most important pieces of deregulatory reforms in American history, during the Ford Administration, which President Carter ultimately signed into law. Regulation has benefits and costs, and aviation depends on both competition and regulation.

Ravich said the U.S. air travel system is far more available and affordable after deregulation to the point that it is nearly taken for granted. He said the hearing focus identified the right issue: how to balance regulation and free market operation.

Carriers need access to gates. They can only compete with flights they are able to offer and operate. Discussions about air traffic control are also about competition. In Ravich’s view, the Spirit bankruptcy illustrated that regulators and courts have to make difficult predictions about markets and competitors. He said the central question before the committee is “whether and how regulatory law can best encourage competition, innovation, and new entry.” The question extends beyond the airline industry in light of drones, flying taxis (advanced air mobility), commercial space transportation. Issues of access, competition, infrastructure, and regulation will influence the next frontiers in transportation.

The third witness, Kristian Stout, Director of Innovation Policy, International Center for Law and Economics, said the most important procompetitive thing Congress can do is to clear policy bottlenecks, not pile on new ones.

As for Spirit, Stout offered the distinction that the Justice Department, an engine inspection crisis, and high jet fuel prices due to the Iran war, all played a role in killing Spirit. He said the legal framework was too static for a visibly fragile firm in a capital-intensive industry. The legal framework failed in two ways. First, the court found a stronger Jet Blue would have competed harder against the big four carriers, but harm to the most sensitive travelers on a handful of routes, under the old “any market” analysis, controlled the entire outcome, no matter how large the national benefit. The court blocked a merger it appeared to regard as good for competition overall to preserve root level rivalry the market then itself “erased.” Second, the failing firm defense asked the yes or no question whether Spirit might collapse without a buyer. Spirit could not meet that test in early 2024, so the court treated it as a durable competitor. From there, it liquidated within 18 months because capital intensive industries are prone to shock. He said the real question was not whether a firm has already failed, but its likelihood of survival in the next five or ten years. Stout said the merger analysis framework for network industries needs a probability-weighted view of a firm’s durability and consistent credit for out of market benefits.

As a second example, airport slots are an issue at very congested airports. The FAA rations takeoffs and landings. Decades ago, slots were like property, but new airlines cannot simply add service such that “use it or lose it” rules would push incumbent carriers to fly nearly empty ghost flights just to keep their slots. Where the FAA actually allows low entry, “fares fall about 17%.” The FAA plainly has the power to move toward real slot markets by abandoning rules it already waives at times.

As a third example, Stout said that although he is not against consumer protection, an accumulation of consumer protection mandates turns judgment calls and manageable risks about basic operations into a legal obligation with a fixed cost. The “pileup of mandates” is relatively minor for large carriers, but potentially fatal to small carriers.

Stout concluded that the missing competition is mostly foreclosed upstream by government-rationed runways, capital that walls it off, and mandates that fall hardest on the carriers least able to bear them. Stout recommended modernization of merger analysis for network industries; opening of underused slots; and application of rigorous cost-benefit review to every operational mandate. “Spirit’s empty gates are a reminder that preserving a competitor on paper is no substitute for letting competition work in fact.”

Nancy Rose, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, made three points. First, antitrust did not kill Spirit, jet fuel prices did. Spirit carried on for another two years before the jet fuel costs ended it. Spirit was the only affordable air travel for some customers. The court took note that Jet Blue’s modeling called for increasing its fares by 30%. The argument that the Justice Department should have waived the deal through ignores the problem of rivals roughing-up competitors to buy them out just when consumers need them most.

Second, Rose said the problem is more than about airlines. Consolidation across the economy has left consumers with fewer choices and higher prices. For example, four firms dominate cattle buying. Pharmacy benefit managers control nearly 80% of prescriptions, and integration with insurers and pharmacies has forced higher prices throughout the system. Hospitals have merged and bought physician practices raising physician prices by 15%, according to recent research.

Third, Rose said antitrust must remain vigilant and independent. Antitrust is law enforcement, “We call balls and strikes based on the evidence, not on personal preferences, political pressure, or who has access in Washington.” She said that principle has been under strain given recent firings of antitrust officials and the President personally weighing-in to support a media merger. Rose noted the secret settlement of the LiveNation case caused its stock to pop 6%.

In conclusion, Rose said businesses and consumers alike need a predictable and non-political antitrust enforcement environment, but “it looks like there’s a justice for sale sign hanging on the fifth floor of the RFK building.”

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