The Competition Bureau has obtained two court orders requiring Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. to provide information for its market study into competition in Canada's airline industry. The Bureau says this is the first time it has used its new information gathering powers in a market study.
The orders, granted by the Federal Court, require the companies to produce records and answer questions in writing relevant to the Bureau's market study.
The information the Bureau is seeking with these orders includes:
· Air Canada and WestJet's analyses of the state of competition in the sector, including different sources of competition.
· Analyses of barriers to entry in the sector, including government policies, and airport access.
· Key performance metrics, from before the pandemic to recent years.
· Agreements with airports, and shareholdings in other airlines providing domestic air passenger services.
The Competition Bureau says this information will help it better understand competition in the domestic airline industry and reach informed and evidence-based findings in its market study.
The Bureau launched the airline market study on July 29 “to better understand competition issues in the industry and examine what changes can be made to improve competition in passenger air travel in Canada.”
This study is not an investigation into specific allegations of wrongdoing. However, the Bureau says that if it finds evidence that a company may be doing something against the law, it will investigate and take appropriate action.
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