Washington DC - Congressman Jim Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has released the following statement in reaction to the ruling by the Department of Justice that it would not impede the proposed merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines:

Wednesday’s unfortunate decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to approve the merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines signals the end stages of airline deregulation.

From the outset, I have expressed concern that a merger between these two carriers will trigger additional mergers among the remaining major carriers, resulting in the world-wide consolidation of air service into a handful of global mega-carriers. That was not what Congress intended when it voted for airline deregulation in 1978.

Creeping consolidation in the airline industry will likely mean fewer choices, higher fares, and diminished levels of service for the traveling public.

This merger underscores the need to enhance the Essential Air Service program, to preserve what we now have with EAS, and help protect those small communities at the end of the spokes in the hub-and-spoke system who are likely to be most adversely affected by the merger. I have already had my staff draft an outline for an expanded EAS bill.

The merger also raises the question of consumer protection and passenger rights. Congress will certainly revisit these issues when it reconvenes.

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