by Robert G. Yetman, Jr., Managing Editor, The James L. Paris Report

For some time, consumers have been complaining that significant declines in the price of oil have not translated into savings in the price of air travel, notable because fuel is the most significant cost incurred by the airline industry. Now, in a story broken by the Associated Press, the Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether there has been collusion on the part of U.S. airlines to keep ticket prices high, by engineering slower growth. Associated Press Story Here.

The Justice Department has sent a letter to U.S. carriers, demanding they turn over copies of communications had with one another, as well as with Wall Street analysts and significant shareholders, on the subject of passenger capacity. A Justice Department spokesperson has confirmed that the investigation into “unlawful coordination” is indeed taking place, but there has been no elaboration by Justice beyond that point, to include no specifics regarding which carriers are subject to the scrutiny.

One of the growing problems for air travelers has been the continued shrinking of carrier options over the last several years, courtesy of a number of mergers that began in 2008; as it stands, over 80 percent of the seats in the U.S. market are presently controlled by just four airlines: American, Delta, Southwest, and United.

News of this investigation comes on the heels of Jet Blue’s announcement that it will now begin charging bag fees, something it had resisted while so many other airlines gave in to the practice. This leaves Southwest as the only major carrier to eschew bag fees…but, the way things are going, how long will they continue to resist the enormous temptation? More broadly, what’s clear is that air travelers can expect to be under the gun, in terms of ticket prices and other fees, for some time to come.