DOT, DOJ Have 'Harmonized' Approach To Airline Antitrust- DOT
24 Septiembre 2009 - 11:10AM
Noticias Dow Jones
A senior U.S. transportation official said Thursday that there
was no "breakdown" with Justice Department colleagues in assessing
competition in the airline industry.
Robert Rivkin, general counsel at the Department of
Transportation, said the agencies had developed a "harmonized"
approach to the sector despite using different methodologies.
"It's not a clash of methodology," Rivkin said at an industry
conference in Chicago.
DOT has final jurisdiction in airline competition matters, but
comments this year from Justice on an application for antitrust
immunity, or ATI, by members of the Star airline alliance had
raised speculation about a policy rift.
"They came from a different place," said Rivkin of DOJ's
approach to the airline industry.
"What we saw [in Star] was an effective harmonization of those
views," he said at an industry conference in Chicago.
DOJ had weighed in with a series of objections to the ATI
application by members of Star, which is led by United Airlines
parent UAL Corp. (UAUA) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. (DLAKY).
Most of the objections were rejected by transport officials in
approving the expansion of Star to include Continental Airlines
Inc. (CAL).
DOT is expected to make a decision by late October on the ATI
application by members of their Oneworld alliance, led by British
Airways PLC (BAIRY) and the American Airlines unit of AMR Corp.
(AMR).
Rivkin made no comment on the pending Oneworld application.
This is the airlines' third effort to secure immunity and gain
parity with members of Star and SkyTeam, the third global alliance.
Two previous attempts were dropped after the concessions sought
from regulators were seen as too onerous.
-By Doug Cameron, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4135;
doug.cameron@dowjones.com