Air France chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta says he strongly supports transatlantic negotiations between the European Union and the USA and he wants to see the creation of a "transatlantic common aviation area".
Spinetta, speaking in November at the International Aviation Club in Washington DC, said a single US-European market was the most effective way to allow carriers on both sides of the Atlantic to operate freely under equal regulatory conditions and competition policies.
But certain US issues will have to be addressed, Spinetta warns. These include ownership rules, cabotage, wet leases and the Fly America Act. "It is very straightforward," says Spinetta. "One cannot talk about a single market unless the players can play all the cards according to the same rules."
He adds that there is a need for "convergence and harmonisation of such rules and policies".
France signed to a new bilateral agreement with the USA last year which will lead to full open skies in 2003. Spinetta says Air France is "perfectly happy" with the bilateral framework.
Spinetta also confirms that his airline and Delta Air Lines will seek new partners to join them and Aeromexico in their global alliance, announced in June. "We'll probably be in a position to reveal the shape of our alliance at the beginning of the year," he says.
Both Spinetta and Gordon Bethune, chief executive of Continental Airlines, with which Air France has a codeshare arrangement, confirm that they are in talks about possibly ending their arrangement early in light of the alliance. "The problem is, both sides enjoy a lot of money from this codeshare," says Bethune.
Source: Airline Business
