US Authorities Will Miss Deadline On Airline Antitrust Ruling
27 Octubre 2009 - 7:27AM
Noticias Dow Jones
Differences between the U.S. Department of Transportation and
Department of Justice are contributing to delays in the
Transportation Department's ruling on a proposed alliance between
AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines, British Airways PLC (BAY.LN)
and Spain's Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA (IBLA.MC), according
to people familiar with the case.
The Department of Transportation, or DOT, will not issue a
preliminary ruling on the three carriers' application for antitrust
immunity by its original Oct. 31 deadline, these people said. The
delay will be at least two weeks and could push a final ruling into
early next year, these people added.
AMR Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said last week that the DOT may
not decide by its Oct. 31 deadline, but he gave no details and said
he was optimistic that regulators will approve the airlines'
request.
American, BA and Iberia have applied to antitrust authorities in
the U.S. and the European Union for permission to cooperate on
marketing and strategic planning in ways normally deemed illegal
collusion. The trio, which cooperate in the oneworld
airline-marketing alliance, argue they should be granted antitrust
immunity because their rivals in the Star Alliance and the SkyTeam
alliance have already received similar status from the U.S.
By Daniel Michaels, The Wall Street Journal; 0032-2-741-1325;
daniel.michaels@wsj.com; and Kaveri Niththyananthan, Dow Jones
Newswires; 4420 7842 9299; kaveri.niththyananthan@dowjones.com