Subcommittee Member Balint’s Opening Statement at Hearing on Airline Consolidation and Trump’s Iran War Driving Higher Prices for Americans

Washington, D.C. (June 24, 2026)— Today, Rep. Becca Balint, Member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing examining how decades of airline consolidation, weakened antitrust enforcement, and rising fuel costs tied to the Trump Administration’s Iran war are driving up prices and limiting choices for Americans.

Below are Rep. Balint’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s hearing.

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WATCH Rep. Balint’s opening statement.

Rep. Becca Balint

Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust

“The 30,000 Foot View: Competition and Regulation in the U.S Airline Industry”

June 24, 2026

It is no secret that flying has gotten worse over the years. 

Tickets cost more. More flights are cancelled. And everything from seat selection to carry ons are now “perks” you pay a fee for.

This is the predictable result of a market that has been allowed to consolidate for over sixty years, and an Administration that continues to prioritize the demands of huge corporations at the cost of everyday Americans. 

Americans were promised that consolidation would produce a more reliable, efficient, and affordable aviation system. It has done the opposite. Flyers face new and rising fees, fewer alternatives, no bargaining power, and increasing barriers to affordable travel.

In 1960, before deregulation, Americans had over 40 major airline carriers to choose from. Today, just four airlines control over two-thirds of the domestic passenger market. We went from 40 to 4! That is not competition. 

At the same time, airline executives argue that further consolidation is necessary to address the industry’s challenges. So it was shocking to hear United Airlines, the fourth largest airline in the US, float a merger with American Airlines, the second largest. 

The combined United-American airline would control 34 percent of the domestic market. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, called the proposal “interesting”. This is alarming. We need to get back to antitrust enforcement on the merits. 

For instance, in 2024, Democrats blocked the Spirit-JetBlue merger because evidence showed it would raise fares by up to 40 percent on dozens of routes. We knew it would harm consumers who could least afford it, and even a Reagan-appointed federal judge agreed.

Spirit is gone now, but not because of antitrust enforcement. Spirit is gone because of the massive spike in jet fuel costs that are a direct result of President Trump’s unconstitutional war with Iran. Even the Spirit CEO said that fuel prices were the biggest factor in closing the airline. 

President Trump’s war of choice has made it all worse. Jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the war began. Airlines are passing that burden directly down to their passengers through higher fares, more fees, and new fuel surcharges. 

Americans never agreed to this war. That’s why I introduced a War Powers Resolution to end it, because Congress, not the President, has the constitutional authority to take this country into a military conflict. 

This unauthorized, uncalled for, war is causing a rolling series of financial blows for Americans across this country. 

Americans have spent nearly $450 more on fuel-related expenses since February. At the grocery store, food prices have gone up more than three percent since last year. At the airport, fares are up more than 20 percent in just four months. It is the same shock to the system coming from every direction.

For a country our size, flying is not a perk. It is how families see each other. It is how small business owners reach their customers. It is how a Vermont student gets home from college.

When the cost of flying goes up, it does not just inconvenience people. It cuts them off from what has become a necessity in this country. 

Instead of addressing this rapidly consolidating industry that is squeezing consumers, this Administration has spent the last year pandering to the interests of their wealthy friends. 

The Biden Department of Transportation required airlines to provide cash refunds when customers were owed and to disclose all fees upfront. This policy was rolled back by the Trump DOT. These rules were estimated to save consumers more than half a billion dollars a year. 

Major airlines and their trade associations spent millions lobbying the Administration in the first nine months of 2025 to get these key consumer protections cut. It is no surprise that the current Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, was an airline lobbyist before he took this job. Members of Congress have pushed for an investigation into whether Duffy continues to improperly favor the interests of the industry that he used to represent. 

Working families across this country deserve better than this. Antitrust laws are supposed to make sure the markets work for us. Americans need to know that antitrust enforcement decisions will be based on law, evidence, and the interests of regular people — not political access, backroom discussions, or the preferences of powerful corporations. 

Americans simply want choices. We do not want a handful of companies to control and limit our freedom of choice. And we don’t want a federal government that approves consolidation because its corporate and political allies want it to. 

They are the reason why I will not stop stressing the importance of good, rule-of-law antitrust enforcement. And why I will keep pressing the current Administration on their perversion of this critical tool for consumer protection. 

Thank you, I yield back.