Frontier, Allegiant CEOs to testify at US Senate airline competition hearing

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chief executives of low-cost carriers Allegiant Airlines and Frontier Airlines will testify before a U.S. Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee on Tuesday on air carrier competition, congressional aides said. Allegiant Airlines CEO Greg Anderson and Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle are among the witnesses that will testify, as will Sharon Pinkerton, a senior vice president at Airlines for America, which represents United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AND LOW-COST AIRLINES IN FOCUS Airlines for America said it looks forward "to highlighting how robust competition has led to historically low fares, a wide availability of options and quality customer service which has resulted in record high demand." The group added "the largest threat to having a healthy, competitive airline industry is our nation’s antiquated, understaffed air traffic control system." Frontier confirmed it would take part in the hearing. Allegiant did not respond to requests for comment. United's CEO Scott Kirby, who has been a vocal critic of the business model of no-frills airlines, earlier this month expressed doubts whether bankrupt low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines' could stay in the industry. Kirby called the ultra-low-cost airline business model "an interesting experiment," which has "failed" and added: "And it seems unlikely to me that Spirit can keep flying because their customers dislike the airline and don't want to fly. Spirit said its customers love low fares and its premium product offerings. "Maybe that's why United executives can't stop yapping about us," the airline said. Spirit filed for bankruptcy protection last month for the second time in a year after a previous reorganization failed to put it on firmer financial footing. Also testifying are Vanderbilt University law professor Ganesh Sitaraman and Bill McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. (Reporting by David Shepardson. Editing by Mark Porter and Mark Potter)

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