PHOENIX — Arizona is teaming up with five other states to sue American Airlines and JetBlue Airlines for allegedly eliminating competition in the travel market.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced on Tuesday his office would be joining an antitrust lawsuit brought against the two airlines that accuses them of forming an "anti-competitive" business agreement.
American and JetBlue agreed in January to coordinate routes, pool marketing efforts, and share revenues for flights coming in and out of airports in Boston and New York.
The multi-state lawsuit accuses the airlines' agreement of being nothing more than "a 19th-century business trust" that could cause airfares to rise and customer service to diminish.
"While American and JetBlue technically retain the ability to price independently under the (agreement), in reality, neither airline will have the incentive to undercut the other on price because doing so would simply reduce the revenues each earns under the revenue-sharing arrangement," the lawsuit states.
Arizona partnered with California, Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to sue the airlines due to the economic harm their agreement could bring to local consumers. The U.S. Department of Justice is also working with the states to litigate the lawsuit.
"The complaint filed today demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring economic opportunity and fairness by protecting consumers and competition,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Arizona has direct flights coming from Boston and New York that could be affected by the joint agreement.
Brnovich said Arizona lost jobs and flight routes after American Airlines merged with U.S. Airways in 2013 and moved the latter's headquarters out of Tempe. So the state knows from prior instances why airline markets need to be protected from monopolies, he said.
"Meaningful competition among airlines is essential to ensuring fair ticket prices and promoting consumer welfare in the industry,” Brnovich said in a statement.
The coalition’s lawsuit is asking the District Court of Massachusetts to stop American and JetBlue from continuing to implement their recent agreement.
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