ALEXANDER CAMPBELL / MADRID
Oneworld member carriers are due to meet this month to decide the alliance's future. The meeting follows the recent failure of Oneworld members American Airlines and British Airways to strengthen their transatlantic partnership in light of strict requirements from the US Department of Transportation (DoT).
Xabier de Irala, chairman of Oneworld carrier Iberia, believes that the alliance will survive without antitrust immunity from the DoT, but any moves towards a closer alliance will have to wait for a less hostile air transport market.
The DoT's decision to charge a price (in terms of slots surrendered to rivals at London Heathrow) that American and BA found "unacceptable" came as a surprise, saysde Irala. In addition, given that the two other major alliances - Star Alliance and SkyTeam - have already received approval for similar deals, it was "a very clear discriminatory decision", de Irala suggests.
At the meeting on 21 February "BA and American will have to explain themselves" and put forward plans for the alliance's future development, says de Irala. He hopes that Oneworld will now give a larger role to its junior partners - such as Iberia. With two new runways and a new terminal planned at Madrid's Barajas airport, de Irala believes Iberia could supplement BA's Heathrow hub as the European centre of alliance operations.
Source: Flight International
