Regulators Should Scrutinize Consolidation in the Aviation Industry to Prevent Anti-Competitive Conduct and Negative Impacts on Consumers
PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On February 4, 2026, UNITE HERE Local 11 called on authorities from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice to block PrimeFlight’s acquisition of GAT/Sky Café pending an investigation on whether the move will decrease competitiveness in the aviation industry and lead to higher costs passed on to consumers.
Please find the complaint letter here.
PrimeFlight and its network of subsidiaries provide major airlines and airports general aviation aircraft and support services across a global footprint. GAT/Sky Café also provides general aviation aircraft and support services.
The pending merger comes in the wake of anti-competitiveness and consumer impact concerns raised by the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union, members of Congress, and state attorneys general regarding the private equity-fueled merger of grocery store behemoths Kroger and Albertsons, which led to the FTC blocking the transaction.
In the U.S., there is currently overlapping and competing operations by PrimeFlight and GAT/Sky Café at 27 airports, including: SAN, JAX, PHX, SFO, SMF, PNS, ATL, SAV, MSY, SHV, MCI, JAN, OMA, ALB, SYR, PHL, PIT, GSP, MEM, AUS, DFW, ELP, HOU, SAT, and RIC.
The acquisition could allow PrimeFlight to consolidate services in 44 of the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. The companies’ merger could result in a potentially significant consolidation of market share, whether at specific airports or across the airline services industry, leading to substantially decreased competition for consumers and negative impacts on workers’ wages.
Diminished competition may result in increased pricing to the airlines, with these higher costs inevitably passed on to American consumers. Further market consolidation can also be expected to negatively impact labor market conditions and, by extension, workers.
Already, issues involving worker layoffs and alleged wage theft violations have embroiled GAT’s subsidiary Sky Café in an ongoing labor dispute with workers and UNITE HERE Local 11 at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. Given these existing issues, the Union is concerned that PrimeFlight’s consolidation of operations will only result in further layoffs at GAT/Sky Café operations and lower wages as workers face a reduction in bargaining power.
The complaints urged the FTC and the DOJ Antitrust Division to investigate these potential antitrust issues and their expected impact upon consumers and workers alike in the airline industry. The complaint states that, until and unless these issues are fully investigated resolved, the agencies should block PrimeFlight’s acquisition of GAT/Sky Café.
UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports
Contacts
PRESS CONTACT: Maria Hernandez | 623-340-8047 | [email protected]
