The Biden administration said Thursday it is launching a broad investigation into the state of competition in air travel, including the effect of mergers and joint ventures between airlines.

The investigation is being handled by the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the Transportation Department.

The administration has successfully blocked three airline deals in the past four years, and President Joe Biden has criticized airlines for charging “junk fees.”

However, the timing of the Thursday’s announcement — less than three months before Biden leaves office, and with the race to succeed considered a toss-up — casts uncertainty over the fate of the investigation.

Four airlines dominate the U.S. airline industry — United, Delta, American and Southwest. They are the product of mergers that eliminated several major airlines.

The airline industry says that there is plenty of competition, however. The industry points to Transportation Department data that shows average U.S. airfares have generally declined for many years, although that has been partly offset by higher fees for baggage, premium seats and other items.

In the second quarter of this year, the average ticket was $382, according to the government figures. That is down from $404 in the same quarter of last year and $438 in the same period of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

The departments said they will also look into the way air travel is priced and sold, and airline frequent-flyer programs.

The agencies said they will take public comments until Dec. 23.

— Associated Press

Southwest, Elliott make nice, for now

Southwest Airlines reached a settlement with an activist investor by agreeing to overhaul its board, ending — at least for now — a monthslong fight with Elliott Investment Management, which is pressuring the airline to boost profits and the stock price.

Chairman Gary Kelly and six current board members will depart Nov. 1 and be replaced by five Elliott-backed candidates and a former Chevron executive, Southwest said Thursday.

Elliott, the hedge fund led by billionaire financier Paul Singer, achieved most of the demands it has made since June, but it settled for less than majority control of the Southwest board. And it did not succeed in one of its goals, ousting CEO Robert Jordan.

Southwest announced the shakeup as it reported that its third-quarter profit fell by nearly two-thirds, to $67 million, on higher costs for labor and other expenses.

U.K. to probe Google, AI merger

Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

— From news services