American Airlines and British Airways have received tentative approval from the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to codeshare on flights beyond the carriers' London and US gateways.
The airlines, founding members of the Oneworld alliance, submitted the codesharing proposal in November 2002 after failing to win approval for a broad alliance with anti-trust immunity. Whereas the alliance was deemed anti-competitive, the DoT has determined that the codeshare plan is permitted under the existing US-UK bilateral agreement.
American and BA would not be allowed to carry each other's codes on routes where they directly compete, such as direct flights between London and major US cities. What is envisaged is BA carrying American's code on its flights beyond the UK to destinations throughout Europe, as well as to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. BA also plans to carry American's code on its New York Kennedy-Manchester service.
American proposes carrying BA's code on beyond services to several US cities and destinations in its extensive Caribbean/Latin American network.
Source: Flight International
