Airport Experience News Fall 2022

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to make it look more like a [JetBlue] aircraft. That means fewer seats and, and that implies higher ticket prices. I think that’s something not insignificant, and I think it will probably be looked at fairly deeply.” Harteveldt also has doubts about ultimate regulatory approval. “The Department of Justice right now is an agency that is not in favor of consolidation in industries that it considers to already be highly concentrated, and the airline industry is in that group,” says, adding that in his mind, there is “a tangible and undeniable risk that the DOJ could potentially turn down the merger request” or deny it unless significant concessions are made. Other mergers are unlikely in the near term future, he adds, especially among the nation’s largest carriers. “The big four airlines – American, Delta, Southwest and United – are already so large that I don’t think the department justice would allow any of them to do an actual merger with another airline,” Harteveldt says. “At the moment, it looks like the lineup will stay the same.”

Monthly Passengers on U.S. Scheduled Airlines (Domestic + International), Seasonally Adjusted June 2019-June 2022

June 2019 77.9M

May 2022 71.0M

June 2022 70.9M

COVID-19 low 3.0M

June 2020 15.3M

Feb 2020

Feb 2021

June 2022

June 2019

Oct 2019

June 2020

June 2021

Feb 2022

Oct 2020

Oct 2021

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