US Department of Transportation (DoT) received (07-May-2019) a motion from Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines in response to All Nippon Airways (ANA). The parties presented the following responses:
- Inter-island market is open, as shown by the entry of Southwest Airlines. JV will not have an "anti-competitive outcome";
- Imposed interline agreement would require the DoT to "second-guess and micro-manage" everyday commercial interactions between airlines;
- Hawaiian Airlines has practice of making inter island interlining available, including to ANA. [more - original PR]