Kevin O'Toole/LONDON
IN ANOTHER FIERCE attack on the lack of progress being made in UK-US liberalisation, American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall says that he is against any deal which falls short of giving the carrier an equal footing to that of British Airways at London Heathrow.
The comments, made in London earlier this month, appear to shed some light on the US walk-out from the latest round of bilateral talks, despite a UK offer which had included the possibility of American linking Heathrow with its hub in Dallas, Texas (Flight International, 1-7 November).
Crandall says that, unlike its main US competitors, American is committed to Heathrow as its main European hub.
While others are happy to receive any concessions they can get from the UK, "however modest", Crandall says that American will advise the US Government against any deal which fails to give it a more competitive position at Heathrow.
"Our advice will be that any deal that doesn't truly balance the opportunities of BA and any US airline focusing its European operations in London is a bad deal," he says.
The comments are at odds with the UK Government's aim of drip-feeding concessions to the US airlines in a series of small deals. UK negotiators are clear that they expect the latest round of talks to yield no more than a "very limited and balanced deal", following from the mini-deal that gave United Airlines the rights between Heathrow and its Chicago hub. Crandall admits that such differences mean progress is "...likely to be halting".
BA also says that, following the latest collapse, talks are now "...unlikely to restart in the near future".
The approaches made by American and United to BA's partner, USAir, have further complicated the issue, with the UK unsure of which concessions to push for in return for opening up Heathrow.
BA says that it is pressing ahead with the code-sharing alliance with USAir, hoping to add another 14 routes, but admits that it does not yet have a feel for how the picture may change.
In an earlier attack on the lack of pace in liberalising the US-UK bilateral, United president Gerald Greenwald claimed that the UK is marking time until it becomes clear what BA wants from the USAir alliance.
His comments were followed by the announcement that United had made an initial approach to USAir, although the talks seem now to have stalled.
Source: Flight International
