From: Star Tribune, 1/16/08
U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., said Wednesday that he doesn’t favor any mergers now because “we have an appropriate balance of competition in the aviation market.”
Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, met with two Northwest executives Tuesday about the carrier’s merger talks with Delta and the effects of a Delta-Northwest deal.
“We did not deregulate aviation in 1978 to create consolidation of the industry, but rather to expand competition,” Oberstar told reporters Wednesday.
Asked whether he would oppose a Delta-Northwest deal, Oberstar said, “I don’t think mergers are in the best public interest, and that includes this one.”
While a merger might increase competitors’ flights into the Twin Cities, a Delta acquisition of Northwest likely would mean the closing of the Northwest headquarters in Eagan….
Related: Delta lets the guessing continue on merger talks with Northwest/United
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