On August 13, 2013, the United States Department of Justice  and attorneys general from six states, including Florida,and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit challenging the $11 billion merger of American Airlines and US Airways, saying the combination would lead to higher prices and less service for consumers. 

 A formatted copy of the complaint appears below. 

Interestingly, these cases have proven very difficult for the government to establish. In the late 1990s, for example, the Department of Justice was not successful in prosecuting American Airlines (via its parent AMR) for "predatory pricing." Antitrust enforcement is a highly complicated area of the law. The goal of such litigation is to make sure that consumers are not worse off in the long run as a result of market behavior that actually reduces competition.  While that sounds easy and good, marshaling the facts and evidence and expert resources to prove that free market impulses should be stopped requires tremendous legal resources.

While globally important, this lawsuit is particularly important to South Florida and Miami residents who have already suffered the demised of Eastern Air Lines and Pan Am in years past.

Department of Justice Complaint (Re USAir -American merger) by Timothy M. Ravich, Esq.

Keeping up with the Times: Aircraft Certification Rules Updated

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"), in consultation with the aviation industry, to conduct an assessment of the aircraft certification and approval process.

In response to this mandate, the FAA announced it is "streamlining aircraft certification and approval processes to keep pace with technological advancements in aviation products and to help the United States maintain global competitiveness. The plan responds to recommendations in the May 2012 Aircraft Certification Process Review and Reform Aviation Rulemaking Committee report to enhance the efficiency of getting new products to market while improving safety." Says the FAA:

Many initiatives are already complete or underway. For example, the FAA is preparing to update the Part 23 regulations that cover design and safety standards for small, general aviation aircraft. The goal is to increase safety, decrease costs, and increase the installation of safety equipment for general aviation. The FAA also published for public comment a new process for initiating and managing FAA resources assigned to projects; it promotes more predictable planning for the applicant. And the FAA has issued an update to the Organization Delegation Authorization Order (8110.4D) and established an Aviation Rulemaking Committee to consider updates for certification procedures and safety management systems in Part 21.

As aircraft operators review their compliance strategy, the plan, which will be updated every six months, can be evaluated here. 

Ground Matters

News is now filtering in about a recent commercial airline accident apparently owing to a front landing gear malfunction.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

There have been several accidents or incidents at New York's LaGuardia Airport, including this one. There was Flight 5050, where a 737 went off a runway

And, of course, there was Captain "Sully" Sullenberger and the "Miracle on the Hudson"

All of these events, together with the recent tragedy in San Francisco, highlights how important the aviation environment and airports are even beyond safety in the national airspace.  The Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") strictly regulates most airport operations.  Ground operations can make aviation incidents worse, or as apparently happened in this case, well, not as bad.  

From a legal perspective, aviation accidents involve many more actors than just the airplane and its crew.  Air traffic control, ground operators, manufacturers, and many other parties are involved (thought not necessarily responsible or liable) both in accident litigation - and aviation safety.