United Airlines abandoned attempts to expand its already large presence in Newark
NEWARK -- The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that United Airlines, which controls about 75 percent of the slots at Newark Liberty International Airport, has abandoned an attempt to acquire dozens more slots, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The Department of Justice launched an antitrust lawsuit in November after United announced it was seeking to acquire another 24 slots from Delta Air Lines. United already controls about 900 of the 1,200 slots at the airport. The government sued to stop the acquisition over concerns it would lead to less competition and even higher fares at Newark, which had the highest average fares of any airport in the third quarter of 2015.
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"Airfares at Newark are among the highest in the country while United's service at Newark ranks among the worst," Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division told NJ Advance Media last year. "Allowing United to acquire even more slots at Newark would only fortify United's monopoly position," weakening rivals' ability to challenge that dominance, while leaving consumers to pay the price.
"A slot is essentially a license to compete at Newark," said Baer. "United already holds most of them, and as a result, competition at Newark is in critically short supply."
At the time United, which acquired Continental in 2010, argued that the New York metro region was the most competitive market in the country and that the additional slots would enable it to operate more efficiently.
Virgin America, a California-based airline, has long expressed interest in adding flights out of Newark and had protested United's dominance there.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.