UPDATE: Kohl, Hatch Raise Concerns On American Airlines, BA Plan
13 Octubre 2009 - 1:12PM
Noticias Dow Jones
Two leading U.S. senators on antitrust issues said Tuesday that
a plan by British Airways PLC (BAY.LN) and AMR Corp.'s (AMR)
American Airlines Inc. to intensify cooperation on trans-Atlantic
routes "raises significant competition issues," increasing pressure
on U.S. regulators reviewing the plan.
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, expressed
their concerns in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood and a Justice Department antitrust official, who are
reviewing an application for antitrust immunity that would allow
American Airlines, British Airways and Spain's Iberia to expand
cooperation within the oneworld alliance.
"While not expressing any views on the ultimate merits of this
application, we believe this alliance application raises
significant competition issues and we reiterate our views that the
DOT act cautiously," the senators wrote. Kohl is the chairman of
the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust,
competition policy and consumer rights, and Hatch is the
subcommittee's ranking Republican.
The senators also vowed to "closely examine international
aviation alliances...and their likely effects on competition."
The senators are the latest to add their voices to the debate
over whether to allow American Airlines and British Airways to work
more closely on schedules and prices, and share revenue. The U.S.
Transportation Department has said it expects to decide by Oct. 31
on the antitrust-exemption application. The high-profile case is
viewed by the industry as a test of evolving U.S. aviation and
competition policy.
The European Commission recently issued a so-called statement of
objections to the proposed partnership.
Attempts to reach officials at British Airways and American
Airlines were unsuccessful. A U.S. Transportation Department
spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637;
joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com