I guess I just don’t get it then. What’s wrong with the following scenario:
1) China comes in and undercuts US prices.
2) US carriers are unable to compete with a business subsidized by one of the largest economies in the world, and China Air forms a monopoly as it drives competitors out of business.
3) China Air folds, leaving the US with no means of air travel at all.
I’m pretty sure China could outlast any airline in the US in a price war, given how thin the margins that US carriers already operate on are. They don’t have to care about making profits—their only goal is to damage the US economy, as on the world stage it’s a zero-sum game. Any damage to the US is a benefit to China.
So yeah, let them. And what effect do you think it will have on the economy when there are literally zero air carriers left in the United States?
Firstly, the US has a bunch of existing laws to deal with monopolies already. Use them.
And if China Air suddenly folds then the US nationalizes their fleet or some similar intervention. Similar has been done during crises in the banking sector, and similar has been done in other countries when an airline went bust.
I think you are probably mostly familiar with high profile cases in the tech space. Outside that the DoJ has a pretty strong record of success in antitrust cases.
Recent examples include:
* A case involving wage suppression by a secret agreement of poultry procesors in Georgia (May 2023)
* A divestment agreement for ASSA ABLOY AB to take over Spectrum Brand Holding Inc.’s Hardware and Home Improvement division
* An antitrust lawsuit against Activision for esport wage surpression.
1) China comes in and undercuts US prices.
2) US carriers are unable to compete with a business subsidized by one of the largest economies in the world, and China Air forms a monopoly as it drives competitors out of business.
3) China Air folds, leaving the US with no means of air travel at all.
I’m pretty sure China could outlast any airline in the US in a price war, given how thin the margins that US carriers already operate on are. They don’t have to care about making profits—their only goal is to damage the US economy, as on the world stage it’s a zero-sum game. Any damage to the US is a benefit to China.
So yeah, let them. And what effect do you think it will have on the economy when there are literally zero air carriers left in the United States?