TURBULENCE AHEAD? : BUMPY RIDE SEEN AS AIRLINES UNVEIL JOINT MARKETING PLAN.Byline: Adam Bryant The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the and British Airways British Airways in full British Airways PLC International passenger airline based in London. In 1936 British Airways Ltd. was founded through the merger of three smaller airlines. formally announced their plans Tuesday for a broad marketing alliance, sparking sharp criticism from competitors and raising questions about the likelihood of their partnership winning approval from government regulators in both countries. In addition, their announcement left unanswered the question of what would become of British Airways' current marketing link with USAir, which would be eclipsed by the new alliance with American. Officials of American Airlines and British Airways indicated Tuesday that they planned to begin joint marketing of their flights in April 1997, creating, they said, more choices for consumers to travel more conveniently over the route networks of two airlines. To carry out their plan - which includes selling seats on each other's flights and sharing the profit from some $3.5 billion in revenue from their combined service over the Atlantic - they would require antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but not from its counterpart in Britain, whose laws are less restrictive on antitrust issues. The airlines' plan also would require the U.S. and British governments For pre-1721 elected parliaments see List of Parliaments of England. Party Prime Minister(s) Date Notes Whig Robert Walpole 1721-1742 generally regarded as being the first Prime Minister of Great Britain Whig The Earl of Wilmington 1742-1743 to renegotiate re·ne·go·ti·ate tr.v. re·ne·go·ti·at·ed, re·ne·go·ti·at·ing, re·ne·go·ti·ates 1. To negotiate anew. 2. To revise the terms of (a contract) so as to limit or regain excess profits gained by the contractor. and loosen their long-restrictive aviation agreement, replacing it with a so-called open-skies accord. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. has struck such an agreement with 11 other European countries, but Britain has remained a holdout hold·out n. One that withholds agreement or consent upon which progress is contingent. Noun 1. holdout - a negotiator who hopes to gain concessions by refusing to come to terms; "their star pitcher was a holdout for six . Executives at both airlines said Tuesday that they were confident they would win the required approvals for their alliance by November. But their proposal already has generated controversy because of the combined market power of American Airlines and British Airways, two large and profitable airlines whose combined route networks, including alliances with carriers like Qantas, would reach most continents. The two airlines currently provide 58 percent of the flights between the United States and Britain. By comparison, United Airlines, a unit of UAL UAL United Airlines (ICAO code) UAL Unified Accelerator Library (Brookhaven National Laboratory) UAL User Account Lockdown UAL User Access Layer UAL Universal Auxiliary Language UAL User Agent Layer Corp., and Lufthansa already have a similar alliance that accounts for 39 percent of flights between the United States and Germany. American is also only one of two U.S. carriers - United is the other - that is formally authorized to fly into London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest international hub, under an aviation agreement signed by Washington and London 50 years ago. Although an open-skies agreement would allow others to fly to Heathrow, using their own aircraft, the airport is at full capacity. That makes it unlikely for this deal to satisfy the concerns of all airlines and governments in each country. Delta Air Lines, for example, described as ``frightening'' the market dominance Market dominance is a measure of the strength of a brand, product, service, or firm, relative to competitive offerings. There is often a geographic element to the competitive landscape. of an allied American Airlines and British Airways. A company spokesman said that Delta would need ``meaningful access'' to Heathrow before it went along with the plan. CAPTION(S): Photo, Chart, Map Photo: (Color) American Airlines President DonCarty, left, and British Airways' Bob Ayling announce plans for an alliance. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Chart: (Color) British Airways - American Airlines deal Associated Press Map: (Color--World map with routes of American and British Airways between England and US) Associated Press |
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