In Blawg Review #67, I discussed the AntitrustProf Blog’s report on the Love Field/DFW agreement.  The Dallas Business Journal reports about a purported DOJ memo raising concerns about the deal:

A local Wright Amendment agreement that serves as the basis for a bill being considered by Congress violates antitrust laws and should not be approved by Congress, according to a memo that the Associated Press says came from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department’s antitrust division says certain restrictions in the bill, such as calling for a permanent reduction in the number of gates at Dallas Love Field would be “hard-core, per se violations of the Sherman Act,” according to the memo. … Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said in a statement issued Tuesday that questions have been raised concerning the validity of the memo. “The memo purported to be from a staff member at the Department of Justice has not been authenticated by the DOJ,” Miller says in the statement. “The alleged memo is full of misstatements about the intent and consequences of the locally crafted Wright Amendment solution.” Department of Justice spokeswoman Gina Talamona, in response to media inquiries involving the Wright Amendment, said in a statement, “We have been discussing with Congress the pending legislation and whether there are better ways to reach the goal of maximizing competition, but the administration has not taken a position on the legislation.” No further comment was given, and the department did not specifically address the memo. The Justice Department did provide the Dallas Business Journal with the copy of a memo issued Tuesday by from Justice Department Assistant Attorney General William Moschella to Hutchison. “Based on certain communications between Department of Justice and congressional staff, it has come to my attention that some believe that DOJ opposes S. 3661, known as the Wright amendment bill. To the contrary, DOJ and the administration have not taken a position on the bill,” Moschella said in the memo. “In fact, we see laudatory elements in the bill including the phase out of the Wright Amendment restrictions. We share your concern about fixing this several decades old issue and of course want to foster the maximum amount of competition in the airline industry which will be a benefit to consumers.”

Technorati Tags: antitrust, DFW, Love Field

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