The Trump administration is open to mergers and acquisitions in the airline industry, even if they involve one of the Big Four carriers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.
In an interview on CNBC, Duffy was asked if he’d like to see more mergers in the sector, given the rising cost of jet fuel and the gap in profitability between larger airlines and smaller ones.
“That’s going to come through us, but also President Trump, he loves to see big deals happen,” he replied.
Duffy noted that there’s “always chatter” in the industry about possible pairings, but said he believes there is room for “some mergers in the aviation industry.”
“Even here in the United States?” asked correspondent Phil LeBeau.
“Yeah, I think so,” Duffy said. “There’s a lot of chatter and a lot of different people are talking amongst themselves about what that would look like. I’m going to wait and see if there’s a deal brought to the table.”
Any potential merger would have to be evaluated based on its potential impact on consumers and the nation’s overall economic competitiveness, the secretary added.
When asked by LeBea if he would be OK with a deal that boosted a single airline’s domestic market share to something like 30% or 35%, Duffy said larger merging carriers would likely have to give up certain assets. The administration also wants to avoid a scenario that would hurt competition, he said.
“I’m not going to precommit to anything,” Duffy said. “I’ll look at anything that comes across my desk. I know the president will look at that as well.”
The Trump administration is generally considered friendly to mergers, though its attitude toward a major airline linkup has not yet been tested. Recent acquisitions in the industry have involved smaller regional carriers, including Republic and Mesa and Allegiant and Sun Country.
The Biden administration, which favored stricter regulation and was skeptical of corporate consolidation, intervened to block the merger of JetBlue and Spirit but permitted Alaska Airlines to acquire Hawaiian Airlines.
