Caveat Predator?: The Justice Dept. is cracking down on predatory pricing

In Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. (1993), the Supreme Court concluded that aggressive cost-cutting usually helps consumers and emphatically rejected a claim that B&W had broken the law by selling below-cost generic cigarettes. In so doing, the high court set lofty legal standards for proving any predatory pricing claims. But Justice antitrust chief Joel I. Klein has some experience scaling heights. If he succeeds, some major airlines could face similar suits - a development that would go a long way toward breaking their tight grip on many of the country's key airports and cutting skyrocketing fares.