For the biggest deal to come down the pike since the last big deal, the British Airways/ American Airlines/ Iberia* tie-up is grabbing less attention than we'd have thought. The pro-side put up their own website, More Travel Choices, which has a bit of background but not that much more; the main opponent, Virgin Atlantic, also put up a website, Third Time Unlucky for Consumers, outlining some of the arguments against. But that's about it, and even though Virgin's Richard Branson says he plans a major advertising campaign, we haven't seen any signs of it yet. *Don't forget Finnair and Royal Jordanian, making this a core oneworld effort.
Interestingly, some of the most pointed opposition has come from American's pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association. APA president Lloyd Hill calls the tie-up "problematic on several fronts" and notes that the 12,000-member union met last with its counterpart unions at British Airways and Iberia.
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