Law School professor testifies before Congress on airline mergers

Michael Levine, adjunct professor of law at Harvard Law School (HLS), has testified twice in the past week before key congressional committees examining possible mergers in the airline industry. On Thursday, Feb. 1, Levine testified as an expert witness before the Senate Commerce Committee – chaired by Sen. John McCain of Arizona – during a hearing on the proposed acquisition of Trans World Airlines (TWA) by American Airlines. Levine also testified before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, a key panel investigating the general issue of airline mergers.

“I strongly oppose these mergers because they will be used to create a ‘Big Two’ industry structure,” Levine said. “United and American will become duopolists insulated from full network competition by control of scarce infrastructure and use rights in the Northeast, which will give them system scope that can’t be matched by competitors.”

Levine is a former airline executive and a well-known airline industry expert. He currently teaches courses at HLS titled “International Joint Ventures” and “Regulation, Deregulation and Reregulation.”

“Michael Levine is a great example of a faculty member who provides our students with the kind of ‘real world’ experience they can only get from someone with his professional background,” said Todd Rakoff, dean of the Juris Doctorate (J.D.) Program at HLS. “The U.S. Congress would have a difficult time finding a more informed expert in the area of airline mergers and acquisitions.”