This post was written by Scott Cleland, who authors the “widely-read” PrecursorBlog.com and publishes GoogleMonitor.com. This story concerns the current antitrust investigation of Google’s proposed purchase of ITA Software that is considered the Google of the travel vertical on the Internet.
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One of the dramas going on in Washington is the antitrust analysis proceeding right now regarding the buyout of ITA Software by Google. Basically, Google that has the most in-depth knowledge of passengers is looking to purchase ITA Software that powers every online travel agent created since 2001 and knows more about the airlines than perhaps any other entity. This is certainly a case for a careful look and regulation, something Google isn’t used to.
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Airline consolidation has been taking two tracks. First, airlines are merging. Second, antitrust immunity granted to airline alliances has created an international, government-approved oligopoly that controls 85 percent of the market.
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In a bureaucratic battle between the Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice, members of the Senate Judiciary committee have raised their voices once again. They are warning about the pending antitrust immunity for the American Airlines/British Airways/Iberia OneWorld Alliance.
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What department within the federal government should have the final say about airline antitrust immunity? Two decades after the Department of Justice (DOJ) allowed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to rule on the first airline alliance that initially has minimal antitrust implications, the stakes are higher and the oligopoly bigger.
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The battle of airline alliances within the federal bureaucracy is heating up. The Senate committee responsible for transportation and aviation issues is lining up against their opposite in the House. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has squared off against the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has come out in opposition to the planned addition of Continental to the Star Alliance that includes United Airlines. Their objections are focused on the antitrust immunity provisions that would be applied to international routes.
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The recent DOT tentative approval of the Continental linkup with United, Lufthansa and the other airlines in the Star Alliance is facing bureaucratic opposition. The Department of Justice and the European Union, in bureaucratic speak, are saying, “Go slow.”
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Over the past two weeks, I have covered the pending antitrust immunity for airline alliances. In my discussions with insiders in Washington, DC, I have heard that many congressional and Department of Justice (DOJ) staffers were concerned with the fast-track the Department of Transportation (DOT) was pursuing regarding the antitrust immunity hearings.
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