The government’s antitrust lawsuit against American Airlines and JetBlue begins Tuesday and the outcome could determine how closely the Biden administration examines other airline deals, including JetBlue’s pending attempt to buy Spirit Airlines.

The Justice Department and six states are suing American and JetBlue to break up their partnership in the Northeast, namely New York and Boston.

It is a significant test of the administration’s opposition to mergers — even though the American-JetBlue partnership is not a full merger. The government argues that the alliance will reduce competition and lead to higher fares.

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“They have gotten too big to fail and too big to care,” said Bill McGee of the American Economic Liberties Project. “Wefeel that there should be a moratorium on all mergers in the airline industry until (federal regulators) go back and look at all the negative effects of all the consolidation.”