AirTran Airways CEO Warns of "Fortress Northeast" if Mergers Don't Produce More Low-fare Competition

(EMAILWIRE.COM, February 06, 2001 ) The continued consolidation of the U.S. airline industry will produce a "Fortress Northeast," with airline consumers paying a steep price in the aftermath of the country's largest-ever airline mergers, unless the federal government takes definitive action to reallocate vital public assets such as landing and takeoff slots and other facilities to the remaining healthy affordable-fare carriers, testified Joseph Leonard, chairman and chief executive officer of AirTran Airways on February 1.

Testifying before the United States Senate Commerce Committee, alongside the architects of some of the largest proposed airline mergers in U.S. history, Leonard told U.S. Senators that "unless the Congress and/or the Executive Branch takes decisive action soon, then by the end of the year this party will be over. The consolidation agreements will be virtually complete in a legal sense, labor agreements for merging carriers will be under negotiation, and consumers had better fasten their seat belts -- they will be in for a very rough ride and a very hard landing."

Making it clear that AirTran Airways does not oppose airline mergers and consolidations, Leonard also stated that the consolidations, as necessary as they might be to occur, "cannot proceed without accommodation for low-cost competition."

Competition Issues

Noting that low-fare carriers such as AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines do produce low-fare competition, it sometimes is airport-specific, such as the case with a comparison of fares out of Baltimore/Washington International and Reagan Washington National airports.

For example, Southwest may sell a roundtrip "walkup" fare between Baltimore and Hartford for approximately $120, "but Southwest's fares have in no way stopped US Airways from charging $628.50 for that same ticket" from Washington National, Leonard noted. "That $500 premium reflects the importance of National as a unique facility precisely because access is controlled by reason of government licensing of access -- slots.

"If the government -- whether it be the Department of Justice in its antitrust review, or the Department of Transportation deciding to sit on its rights and do nothing -- permits the American/United combination in the form proposed, those kinds of premium fares will be the name of the game in the Northeast," Leonard declared.

About AirTran Airways

Systemwide, AirTran Airways operates 310 daily departures to 34 cities. Offering the convenience of easy, same-concourse connections in Atlanta, AirTran Airways operates 137 daily departures from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport.

AirTran Airways provides everyday, affordable air travel throughout the eastern United States and, unlike other airlines, never requires a roundtrip purchase or Saturday night stay. AirTran Airways is the launch customer for the Boeing 717, today's newest, most innovative and most environmentally friendly commercial aircraft. AirTran Airways is a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (AMEX: AAI).

For more information and reservations, visit AirTran Airways' Web site at www.airtran.com (America Online Keyword: AirTran), call your travel agent or call AirTran Airways at 800-AIRTRAN (800-247-8726) or 770-994-8258 (in Atlanta).

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Produced for AirTran Airways

Contact:
Jim Brown, AirTran Airways
407-251-5578

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