Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS
Any prospects of an immediate UK-US open skies agreement have disappeared, following the confirmation by British Airways that it is postponing its plans for a full-blown strategic alliance with American Airlines.
Meanwhile, France is pressing ahead with implementing its bilateral aviation agreement with the USA, signed earlier this year, despite the European Commission's (EC) insistence that such arrangements are against EC law.
The USA has been seeking an instant open skies agreement with the UK and, as a pre-condition, wants increased access to London Heathrow for US carriers, if it is to approve anti-trust immunity for the BA/American alliance. Last month's UK/US bilateral negotiations broke down as the UK continued to baulk at demands for an instant agreement, rather than a phase-in similar to that agreed by the USA and France.
The decision by the two alliance partners to opt for a change of plans resulted from an EC draft recommendation in July, when it demanded the release of 267 weekly slots at Heathrow and Gatwick for the alliance to go ahead. There is also the issue of whether the slots can be sold or have to be given up freely (which the EC advocates).
"We said at the time that, while we welcomed the EC approval, the terms were far too harsh. That remains our position," says BA chief executive Bob Ayling. "It will make no sense to us or our shareholders to proceed with the alliance under the current terms. It remains our objective to complete our alliance with American, but only on terms which are acceptable," he insists.
BA sources say that the airlines are planning to maximise their association without anti-trust immunity, and within the existing UK/US bilateral. They will also use their recently agreed oneworld alliance as a way around the restrictions, and phase in their strategic alliance over four to five years.
The move will blunt the impact of the sudden release of London slots, and limit the broadening of Heathrow access. The decision has angered US carriers such as United Airlines, which claims that the UK has "-rediscovered the concept of Fortress Heathrow" and says that US approval of a phased strategic alliance must be tied to an open skies agreement.
Meanwhile, the EC has already taken the final legal steps against eight other member states which have already concluded open skies deals with the USA by referring cases against Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK to the European Court of Justice. France will also be referred.
On 4 November, the first result of the French-US deal went ahead with a codesharing agreement between American and Air Liberté. In a reciprocal move, the US Department of Transport has cleared several US airlines for 21 new flights a week between Paris and cities in the USA, beginning in April 1999.
European Union member states have given the Commission rights to negotiate open skies deals, but Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock complains that its scope "-is not broad enough to make meaningful negotiation possible and, until that changes, the Commission has no option but to pursue legal action". He says the Court "-has the means to suspend the pursuit [of such agreements]".
Source: Flight International
