Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that a proposed merger is likely to harm competition among air ambulance transport services that transfer patients between medical facilities among the Hawaiian islands.

According to the complaint, which was first announced in March 2018, patients depend on air ambulance services when they need medical or surgical care that is not available in their local communities. Without a remedy, the acquisition would have combined the only two providers of air ambulance transport services operating in Hawaii and was likely to lessen competition and create a monopoly in the market for inter-facility air ambulance services in Hawaii, in violation of federal antitrust laws.

Under the terms of the settlement, AMR Holdco will sell its inter-facility air ambulance transport services business and supporting assets to AIRMD, LLC, which does business as LifeTeam.

The FTC worked with the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General on this case.

The Commission vote approving the final order was 2-0. (FTC File No. 171 0217; the staff contact is Sylvia Kundig, FTC Western Region-San Francisco, 415-848-5188.)

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