ASTA and the U.S. Travel Association have strong but differing opinions about the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Transportation's jointly announced public inquiry into the state of air travel competition.
ASTA said it welcomed the inquiry and the accompanying request for public comments as an opportunity "to share our members' views on this critically important issue."
"A number of developments such as the mergers and acquisitions approved by the DOJ in the decades following deregulation of the airlines in 1978 have contributed to an alarming decline in competition in the U.S. airline industry, resulting in both higher prices and fewer choices for consumers," ASTA said in a statement.
"Travel advisors sell 735,000 air tickets daily, and they have witnessed firsthand the effects of airline consolidation throughout the history of commercial aviation. Once agents of the airlines, advisors are now their consumers and assist travelers in choosing the best air travel options. This has led to increased prices, decreased choice and lower satisfaction among travel advisors' clients."
When ASTA filed a DOT complaint last year about American Airlines' distribution strategy, it also addressed airline competition, saying that American is too dominant at its hubs and that the airline should be forced to surrender slots to other carriers at capacity-constrained airports to increase competition.
'Politicizing air travel'
The U.S. Travel Association, however, called the DOT-DOJ inquiry "another in a long line of disappointing political stunts."
"Airfares are at new lows and air travel demand is at historic highs. Yet air travel could be improved -- by investing in technology, funding airport improvements and addressing the shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers," U.S. Travel said in a statement. "Rather than solving these serious, complex and longstanding problems, the Biden administration is choosing to politicize the air travel process and, in so choosing, fail the American traveler."
Airlines for America also suggested that the Biden administration is doing a political stunt. The airline advocacy organization said it "has been talking about robust airline competition for years, and unfortunately the timing of this 'broad inquiry,' which was announced 12 days before a national election, suggests political motivations."
This is the second time in two months that U.S. Travel has expressed disappointment in a DOT probe into airline practices. In September, the DOT said it was looking into the rewards programs of the largest U.S. airlines.
"It is stunning that the federal government would waste precious time micromanaging airline rewards programs beloved by 80% of travelers at the same time they are failing the American air traveler to the tune of 3,000 air traffic controllers," U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman said at the time. "The lack of focus and ability to prioritize real problems is disappointing to the travel industry and the millions of travelers we serve each day."