Public Interest Groups Urge Federal Officials to Monitor United Airlines' Conduct at O'Hare
Coalition letter warns United's strategy threatens competition at America's busiest airport and calls for rigorous scrutiny of any future United-American merger
A coalition of leading consumer and public interest organizations today called on federal transportation and antitrust officials to monitor United Airlines' conduct at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, review outdated airport gate and slot allocation systems, and subject any future airline mergers to the highest level of antitrust scrutiny.
In a letter sent to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi, and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford, the organizations argue that United Airlines is pursuing a strategy designed to eliminate the unique hub-to-hub competition that currently exists between United and American Airlines at O'Hare — the only major U.S. airport where two legacy carriers maintain competing hubs.
The letter was signed by the Open Markets Institute, Demand Progress Education Fund, American Economic Liberties Project, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America.
According to the letter, United’s radical, unsafe expansion of flight capacity highlights broader flaws in how gates and runway access are allocated at congested airports.
Existing systems often reward incumbents for maximizing flight volume rather than serving consumers safely and efficiently, creating incentives for dominant airlines to entrench their positions through unprofitable capacity expansion designed to squeeze out rivals.
The organizations urged federal officials to:
Investigate whether United's cumulative conduct at O'Hare raises concerns under federal antitrust and consumer protection laws;
Conduct a comprehensive review of gate and slot allocation systems at O'Hare and other congested airports;
Increase transparency around airport gate leases, slot holdings, scheduling decisions, and airport access;
Review whether current arrangements comply with federal requirements designed to prevent discriminatory or exclusionary access to airport infrastructure; and
Subject any future airline merger or joint venture — particularly any involving United and American Airlines — to rigorous antitrust scrutiny.
The groups warn that a merger between United and American would eliminate the only major hub-on-hub competition in the United States and further concentrate an airline industry already dominated by four carriers controlling roughly 80 percent of the domestic market.
"Travelers have already experienced the consequences of decades of airline consolidation through higher fees, fewer choices, and reduced competition," said Open Markets Transportation Policy Analyst Arnav Rao. "Federal regulators should not wait for another merger proposal before addressing the structural problems that are allowing dominant carriers to consolidate control over the nation's air travel infrastructure."
The letter concludes that the situation at O'Hare should serve as a warning about the dangers of concentrated control over critical transportation infrastructure and the need for stronger competition policy in the airline industry.
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