United's power grab at Newark Airport could hike prices | Editorial

United Airlines, by far the dominant player at Newark Airport, wants to purchase rights to control even more of the takeoff and landing slots, a move that would almost certainly lead to price increases.

This isn't how a market economy is supposed to work. It seems more like the robber-baron days when John D. Rockefeller could use his monopoly power to set oil prices.

The word "monopoly" is not ours; it is contained in a federal lawsuit that attempts to block this move. United, the suit notes, already controls 73 percent of the slots at the airport. It notes, too, that the average fare at Newark ($473) is significantly higher than the average at JFK Airport ($439) or LaGuardia ($410).

A spokesman for United claimed that prices are higher because Newark has a higher share of business travelers, who tend to pay more. And he says that United would use the added slots to offer direct flights to new destinations, a boon to fliers.

But at what point does United's position at Newark stifle legitimate competition? At what point would fliers from our side of the Hudson reluctantly accept higher fares to avoid the schlep to the New York airports through that nightmare traffic?

When we ask United whether competition would be threatened if a single airline controlled 90 percent of the slots, or even 95 percent, they refused to answer, calling it a hypothetical question. True, that. And let's make sure it remains hypothetical.

The only sure way to ensure that United is not gouging fliers is to protect what competition is left at the airport. The Department of Justice can see that, and so is stepping in to block this move. The Business Travel Coalition, an advocacy group for customers, agrees. And five smaller airlines that want a chance to compete at Newark recently wrote the U.S. Department of Transportation, saying their efforts to get slots have been turned down.

Remember, too, that this move by United comes as the Justice Department conducts a wider investigation into "unlawful coordination" by four major airlines – United, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The attempt to establish monopoly power at Newark is the least of it.

If there is good reason to allow United to expand its reach at Newark, we've yet to hear it. Our hope is that federal government wins this one.

Editorial and comments: http://www.nj.com/opinion