Politicians Raise an Eyebrow at Frontier/Spirit Merger
Congresspeople, Senators, the Attorney General of Colorado, and fee-lovers everywhere are encouraging the Justice Department to cast a weary eye when it begins its review of the proposed merger of Frontier and Spirit.
A letter to the DOJ and DOT from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Mondaire Jones details the concerns of Congress with regards to competition concerns created by the merger. The lawmakers, along with the Attorney General of Colorado lay out why they think the mashup will reduce options for travelers and raise prices, especially on routes where the two overlap.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser also takes both airlines’ customer service records to task, revealing that he likely got stuck paying a fee on Spirit that he didn’t know existed just like the rest of us. He says that after the proposed merger the two carriers will have few incentives to address complaints because of lessened competition. He also is concerned with the health effects for the animals on the tails of Frontier aircraft if they are subjected to Spirit’s yellow paint on a daily basis.
SkyWest Drops 29
SkyWest Airlines intends to end service to 29 cities, 28 of which would lose their only commercial air service if the carrier goes through with its plan. These are all routes the carrier operates on behalf of United as United Express, and are being affected by the current pilot shortage that is especially causing trouble for regional carriers.
The 29 destinations are in 15 states, mostly in the Midwest. The carrier submitted its 90-day notice to the DOT that it intends to terminate its Essential Air Service contract in these markets. It is offering grounds staff the opportunity to stay with the company and transfer to another airport, although its unlikely many will take them up on the offer if for some reason they are already pleased living in Scottsbluff, Nebraska or Lewisburg, West Virginia.
There is speculation that the DOT might require the carrier to continue to operate some – or all – of the routes while it looks for a new EAS carrier. Despite some reports in the media, the DOT denies that it reached out to ITA Airways to consider taking over the EAS routes for the interim.
Delta, Air France-KLM Haven’t Learned Their Lesson
SkyTeam carriers and JV Partners Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM are reportedly interested in acquiring a majority stake of Alitalia version 24.0, known to some as ITA Airways.
Lufthansa has repeatedly expressed interesting in the pyramid scheme airline, but only wants to go as far as a minority stake. Delta, Air France, and KLM’s interest appears to be for a majority, controlling stake, proving they have all suffered concerning head injuries that have deeply impaired judgment. The airlines supposedly have backing from an international fund that wants to remain anonymous, because, well, wouldn’t you want to remain anonymous in this case?
The carriers submitted their interest via a formal document to the Italian government which is the current majority owner of the airline. An Italian government representative reached out to Delta to make sure it wasn’t an early April Fools’ Joke which Delta confirmed that it was not. Delta would have the advantage of continuity within SkyTeam with ITA and its predecessors, making it more familiar with the carrier’s shenanigans that its Lufthansa and its bid.
- Air Astana is ending flights to Russia and over its airspace due to the inability to get insurance.
- American named Julie Rath its new VP for Customer Experience, Loyalty and Marketing. That means she’s the one in charge of devaluing AAdvantage.
- Emirates entered into a codeshare agreement with Garuda Indonesia.
- Flybondi is partnering with Argentina’s FLY CARGO to create its own cargo brand.
- Qantas permanently closed its lounge in Perth’s Terminal 1.
- TUI ended its on-board mask mandate.
- WestJet‘s purchase of Sunwing has hit a speedbump over the involvement of a Russian steel magnate.
Why is it whenever I tell my friends to embrace their mistakes they always give me a hug?