ALEXANDRIA, VA, July 27, 2000 ­ The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) applauded separate moves in both the House and Senate to bring relief to beleaguered airline passengers. The measures included a House bill to curb airline monopolization and a Senate resolution expressing strong reservations about the US Airways and United Airlines merger.

"Clearly, Congress is very concerned about the impact industry consolidation and anti-competitive behavior is having on consumers," said ASTA President and CEO Joe Galloway. "This is a reflection of the continued frustration with the airlines and the growing fear in Congress that the mega-carriers are out of control on the key issues of passenger rights and basic competition."

Yesterday, Senators John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Slade Gorton (R-WA), chair of the Aviation Subcommittee, introduced Senate Resolution 344, which expresses concern about the proposed United Airlines-US Airways merger because of its potential to leave consumers with few travel options, higher fares, and lowered levels of service; and proposes Œa sense of the Senate statement' that the potential consumer detriments from the proposed merger outweigh the potential consumer benefits. The Resolution has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee and is expected to be marked up in September when Congress returns from its summer recess. A joint press release by the two Senators stated that "the public interest would likely be harmed [by the merger]. It further stated that, "Whatever air travelers stand to gain from the merger is outweighed by what they stand to lose."

At the same time, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) introduced legislation designed to protect consumers from airline monopolies by giving the Department of Transportation greater authority to oversee the business and marketing practices of the mega-carriers and intervene when those practices result in reduced competition or unreasonably high costs to consumers.

Oberstar, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee, said he opposes the United-US Airways merger, and the subsequent mergers it will trigger, and has asked the Justice Department to reject the merger on antitrust grounds. Under the bill, the DOT would have the authority to protect consumers by ordering airlines to roll back fares, offer more seats at reduced fares or take other action in markets where fares are unreasonably high.

ASTA has also voiced its opposition to the United-US Airways merger, and all other major airline mergers, until the airline industry's customer service and competition issues have been resolved.

"ASTA is concerned about anything that reduces the number of major competitors in the airline industry," said Galloway. "This is an industry that has argued for consolidation and mergers saying they would result in improvements for consumers. Instead, airlines have realized record profits while the traveling public has experienced declining service and higher prices. The airlines have also used their market power to harm travel agents who are the consumers' only real source of nuetral comparative information. It is high time to step back and say, ŒNo more mergers, no more alliances until the consumer interest is served.'"