The Justice Department filed an antitrust suit on Tuesday against American Airlines and JetBlue, saying a growing alliance between the two carriers had created a “de facto merger” in the New York and Boston markets, reducing competition and hurting consumers. The suit said the arrangement between the airlines reduced the incentive for them to compete in the Northeast and elsewhere and would “cause hundreds of millions of dollars in harm to air passengers across the country through higher fares and reduced choice.” “This sweeping partnership is unprecedented among domestic airlines and amounts to a de facto merger,” the Justice Department declared. It said attorneys general in six states and the District of Columbia were joining in the lawsuit. The action is the latest effort by the Biden administration to increase competition and limit the power of large companies through antitrust actions. But it comes as airlines are trying to right themselves after the pandemic crushed their revenue and profits. And the two airlines rejected the lawsuit’s premise, contending that their partnership in fact helps increase competition against Delta and United and in New York airports. “Ironically, the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeks to take away consumer choice and inhibit competition, not encourage it,” said Doug Parker, American’s CE. On Tuesday, Richard A. Powers, an acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said that in the years before the alliance was formed, JetBlue’s increased flights in and out of Boston had forced other airlines to lower their fares. Now, he said, cooperation between JetBlue and American “eliminates this critical source of competition,” particularly in New York.<br/>