FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2003 WWW.USDOJ.GOV AT (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. - R. Hewitt Pate, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Departments Antitrust Division, issued the following statement today after the Department announced the closing of the Orbitz joint venture investigation: After an extensive investigation of the available facts, the Antitrust Division concluded that the Orbitz joint venture has not reduced competition or harmed airline consumers. This thorough review involved interviewing numerous interested parties, reviewing many documents that were produced by Orbitz as well as by third parties, engaging in extensive empirical analyses of airline booking data, and examining the analyses suggested by third parties.
The Division considered several theories of harm none of which was ultimately borne out by the information collected by the Antitrust Division. These concerns included whether certain Orbitz contract terms would facilitate coordination among the participating airlines or reduce their incentives to discount resulting in higher fares and whether those contract terms would make the Orbitz joint venture dominant in online air travel distribution. The Division found that those terms did not result in higher fares or make Orbitz dominant in online air travel distribution. 03-437
Source: US Department of Justice
