International Aviation: Competition Issues in the U.S. - U.K. Market

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  "Code-sharing" Alliances Airlines American Airlines Antitrust Laws Bilateral Agreements British Airways Competition Governments Heathrow Airport (London, England) International Airports International Compacts International Relations International Transportation Transatlantic Flights

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• Publication/ Report Number:
  GAO/T-RCED-97-103
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1404053
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; United Kingdom
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Abstract:
  Access to London's Heathrow Airport is important to any airline that desires to be a major participant in the transatlantic market. Current U.S. bilateral aviation agreement with the United Kingdom restricts the number of U.S. airlines that can serve Heathrow to two carriers-American Airlines and United Airlines. In June 1996, American Airlines and the United Kingdom's largest airline, British Airways, announced that they intended to form an alliance that would allow both carriers to market each other's flights as their own (referred to as "code-sharing") and that they would seek immunity for the alliance from U.S. antitrust laws. Such alliances must be approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT), and as a matter of U.S. policy, DOT only grants antitrust immunity to such alliances if there is an "open skies" agreement. Since July 1996, DOT has been negotiating with the British government but the two sides have yet to agree on such an accord. In this statement before Congress, John H. Anderson, Jr., Director, Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division of the General Accounting Office discusses the (1) current status of airline competition in the U.S.-U.K. market and of negotiations between the United States and the United Kingdom, (2) potential competitive impacts of the proposed alliance between American Airlines and British Airways, and (3) obstacles that might prevent U.S. airlines from having adequate access to Heathrow.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9efed05be83be5d26bbad6aa5b79dc462d00055300b5bead7b3a845d9a9e7bf2daa9e8e93521cdf87ca381b5621418ba02945ee399b3fac461cb5308c2529dce
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12641/dot_12641_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 87.77 KB ]