Continental Airlines Urges Government to Stop Mega-Mergers of Four U.S. Airlines: Bad for Consumers, Communities and Employees  

Feb. 7, 2001 -- Continental Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gordon Bethune today urged the U.S. government to stop the proposed mega-mergers of United Airlines/US Airways and American Airlines/US Airways /TWA/DC Air during his testimony before the Antitrust, Business Rights, and Competition Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee of the Judiciary.  Bethune testified that the mergers will harm customers, communities and airline employees. He said that customer service will nosedive if these four airlines consolidate into two super-carriers.Other airlines will be forced to combine, be carved up, or be put out of business by the onslaught brought on by the United and American cartel, said Bethune. Additional airline mergers will be required to restore a competitive playing field to an airline industry that would otherwise be split by the United and American cartel.

After testifying, Bethune delivered a speech to the ATW Conference, presented by Air Transport World magazine, which recently named Continental "Airline of the Year." "If you thought last summer was 'airline hell,' buckle your seatbelts, because with these pending mega-mergers, you haven't seen anything yet, said Bethune in his speech. These mega-mergers will make last summer look like the good old days. In his Senate testimony, Bethune also said that other carriers, such as Continental, might be able to maintain a regional presence if the mergers went through, but would not be able to compete effectively on a national or global scale. Bethune added that if the airline mergers are approved, Continental would require certain assets to continue to compete with United and American. These assets include: appropriate slots and facilities at capacity-constrained airports, international route transfers, access to needed capital and re-evaluation of antitrust immunity already granted to the mega-carriers and their foreign partners.

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