Oneworld alliance partners American Airlines and British Airways remain adamant in their belief that calls for the two carriers to relinquish slots at London Heathrow in order to achieve transatlantic antitrust immunity with fellow alliance partner Iberia are illogical and unnecessary.
The 31 October statutory deadline for the US Department of Transportation to issue its decision regarding antitrust among the carriers has passed, and recently reports have surfaced that European Union regulators could require the carriers to hand over slots at Heathrow to allay EU concerns about reduced competiton in the transatlantic market.
Responding to a question today from ATI and Flightglobal about the willingness of American and BA to surrender slots at Heathrow American CEO Gerard Arpey said he doesn't believe any remedies are necessary to gain antitrust approval.
Arpey made those comments in Mexico City during a ceremony marking Mexicana's official entry into the Oneworld Alliance.
Reiterating previous statements that all carriers who sought access to Heathrow have done so through the EU-US open skies treaty that was introduced last year, Arpey believes any logic that dictates American and BA should hand over slots is "an old fight".
Furthermore, Arpey argues that American and BA combined hold less slots at London than carriers from the Star Alliance and SkyTeam grouping who have large hubs at Frankfurt and Paris. SkyTeam member Delta Air Lines in 2008 won approval for an immunized joint venture with Air France-KLM while four members of the Star Alliance received authority for a planned joint venture earlier this year.
British Airways director of strategy Robert Boyle also told ATI and Flightglobal that given the high share of transatlantic traffic the Star Alliance now enjoys through Continental's Newark hub, the facts indicate remedies aren't necessary for the proposed tie-up among the Oneworld members.
Boyle also point to heavy attention on slots at Heathrow as a result of Virgin Atlantic's vocal opposition to antitrust among the Oneworld members.
Still, Boyle says if regulators require a remedy package in order to grant antitrust, "we need to consider whether it is worth it".
DOT's lapse in issuing a decision on the antitrust application of the Oneworld members does not concern Arpey, who points to other instances in the past when the agency has missed a statutory deadline by one or two months.
Arpey continues to vocalize the strategic importance of Japan Airlines (JAL) to Oneworld as Delta Air Lines reportedly is seeking an equity stake in JAL that would result in JAL transitioning to the SkyTeam Alliance.
American is also reportedly in talks with JAL about a potential financial stake in its key Asian alliance partner. Arpey says in the current economic environment Asia-Pacific carriers have been hit harder than most airlines. "JAL is right in the eye of the storm," he explains. American's CEO remains convinced Oneworld continues to deliver the most meaning to JAL without the regulatory risks and financial costs of jumping to another alliance.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
