United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-04-23 monographic deposited born digital 24 p. GA 1.13:T-RCED-98-176 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176 P0b002ee180377e15 f:rc98176t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176 T-RCED-98-176 Airline industry Airline regulation Competition Airports Air transportation operations Commercial aviation Proposed legislation Marketing Restrictive trade practices Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL) John F. Kennedy International Airport (NY) Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DC) LaGuardia International Airport (New York, NY) New York (NY) Cincinnati (OH) Charlotte (NC) Dallas (TX) Newark (NJ) Minneapolis (MN) Pittsburgh (PA) Detroit (MI) Testimony RCED

GAO discussed its work on the effects of airline deregulation, focusing on: (1) fare and service trends; (2) factors contributing to service problems; and (3) the initiatives by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and others to address these problems.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) not all communities have benefited from airline deregulation; (2) certain airports--particularly those serving small and medium-sized communities in the East and upper Midwest--have experienced higher fares or poorer service since deregulation; (3) there are several reasons for the substantial regional differences in fare and service trends, including the dominance of routes to and from these airports by one or two traditional hub and spoke airlines and operating barriers, such as long-term, exclusive-use gate leases at hub airports; (4) in contrast, the more widespread entry of new airlines at airports in the West and Southwest since deregulation--and the resulting geographic differences in fare and service trends--has stemmed from the greater economic growth in these regions as well as from the absence of dominant market positions of incumbent airlines and barriers to entry; (5) operating barriers--slot controls, restrictive gate leases, and perimeter rules--continue to block entry at key airports and contribute to fare and service problems in the East and upper Midwest; (6) to minimize congestion and reduce flight delays, the Federal Aviation Administration has set limits since 1969 on the number of takeoffs or landings--referred to as slots--that can occur during certain periods of the day at four congested airports--Chicago O'Hare, Ronald Reagan Washington National, and New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia; (7) a few airlines control most of the slots at these airports, which limits new entrants; (8) these operating barriers, combined with certain marketing strategies by established carriers, have deterred new entrant airlines while fortifying established carriers' dominance at key hubs in the East and upper Midwest; (9) similarly, marketing and business alliances between major carriers may affect competition in markets where they dominate; (10) increasing competition and improving air service at airports serving communities that have not benefited from deregulation will likely entail a range of federal, regional, local, and private-sector initiatives; (11) DOT has recently undertaken several efforts designed to enhance competition, such as granting slots to new entrants at 2 airports with slot controls and issuing draft guidelines that define anticompetitive behavior by airlines that could lead to an investigation and possible fines by DOT; and (12) in addition, recently propose legislation would seek to increase air service in underserved markets and address barriers to competition and predatory behavior by air carriers. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176/html/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176.pdf GAO/T-RCED-98-176 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-176 Testimony GAO/T-RCED-98-176; Domestic Aviation: Service Problems and Limited Competition Continue in Some Markets; Airline industry Airline regulation Competition Airports Air transportation operations Commercial aviation Proposed legislation Marketing Restrictive trade practices Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL) John F. Kennedy International Airport (NY) Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DC) LaGuardia International Airport (New York, NY) New York (NY) Cincinnati (OH) Charlotte (NC) Dallas (TX) Newark (NJ) Minneapolis (MN) Pittsburgh (PA) Detroit (MI) Title 49 Section 49109 49 U.S.C. 49109 Public Law 103-305