Classic Anti-Competitive Behavior: With Other Airlines Gone, American Drops Dallas – Iceland Service Too
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.co ... rvice-too/Interesting article about anti-competitive behavior on the part of American Airlines at DFW Airport. It's a well known fact that AA wants to be the only choice DFW area customers have when it comes to international flying, which is one of the reasons we see less foreign carriers at DFW, less competition, and higher prices.
We went from 3 carriers on DFW-Iceland to zero. AA started their flight to kick out the Icelandic carriers, succeeded, and now "relocates" the flight to Philadelphia, guaranteeing their monopoly on the route and the chance to squeeze DFW customers for more money, while providing less comfort, amenities, and convenience.
American also added a second daily DFW-Paris flight after Air France announced their reentry to DFW, presumably to try and push them out to limit choice for DFW fliers. Air France is about to conclude their seasonal flight, so we will see if they choose to operate it again next year or if AA gets their way.
What they do is hard to prove as "illegal," and would likely never happen. However, Dallas and Fort Worth taxpayers do own DFW Airport, fund it, and assume any financial risk that comes with running the megahub for American Airlines. If we had a mayor who cared and wasn't put in power by big business (we do have that with Eric Johnson), I would love to see them lay down the law and tell American we are not going to let their monopoly cause higher airfares for Dallasites, less choice, and less international links that bring growth and global visibility to our city.
This could be accomplished by refusing to fund construction for the new Terminal F, or supporting actual Dallas-based Southwest Airlines in a complete reversal of any Wright Amendment restrictions on Love Field gate numbers, usage, and allowing international flights from Love.
But, this is all conjecture and will likely never happen. Being the kind of Mayor Eric Johnson is, I'm sure backs have been scratched and a deal has been worked out to protect AA at the expense of Dallasites.