American Airlines (AA) chairman Robert Crandall has railed against what he sees as the "re-regulation" of the US domestic airline industry in favour of low-cost new entrant carriers.
Speaking to an audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Crandall accused the US Department of Transportation of stripping the established carriers of their right to use the "competitive weapons" developed during the Darwinian slugfest that has defined commercial aviation since deregulation in 1978.
Such weapons include computer reservations systems, frequent flier mileage programmes, and massive hub airports dominated by one carrier - innovations pioneered by Crandall himself.
An early foe of deregulation, American's controversial chief has proven its master.
Crandall expects the AA/British Airways alliance to go through, and adds that the recent decision to cut travel agent commissions by 20% is justified "because the extra commissions can be passed back through the system as a rebate to commercial customers."
Source: Flight Daily News
