United chief executive officer Glenn Tilton is giving indications that an open skies agreement between Japan and the USA could be executed with just one grant of anti-trust to a Japanese carrier and its US partners.
A contingency of the open skies pact reached between the two countries in December 2009 was approval of immunised alliances of All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) with their respective US partners.
Star Alliance partners ANA, Continental and United have already submitted their anti-trust application to US regulators. JAL must decide if it will remain in the Oneworld alliance or join Delta Air Lines in SkyTeam. Both Oneworld member American Airlines and Delta have been locked in a high-stakes competition for JAL's allegiance as the carrier seeks to restructure under the equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
American argues that any anti-trust immunity sought by Delta and JAL would be rejected by US regulators, contending the combined entities would hold a significant market share in transpacific markets.
In a December 2009 media presentation issued by Delta Air Lines in Tokyo the carrier estimates its combined capacity share with JAL on Japan-North America routes would be roughly 43%. It estimates the Star partners would hold 35% while American and JAL would have a 25% share. Delta's estimate for Asia-North American capacity share shows the Star partners holding a 22% share, followed by a Delta and JAL combination of 16% and a American-JAL share of 9%. In that presentation Delta argued its proposed tie-up with JAL would supply the most effective competition to Star.
During the December 2009 media briefing in Tokyo Delta president Ed Bastian said: "While we agree that a Delta-JAL alliance will be powerful, we firmly disagree with those comments [by Oneworld competitors] and are confident we will receive antitrust immunity, because it's in the interest of all parties - JAL, Delta and, most importantly, our respective customers in the US and Japan."
Tilton, meanwhile, during an earnings call today pointed to recent discussions indicating immunity would not be jeopardised if one anti-trust application is approved. He says there could be a shift in thinking along those lines "on both sides of the pacific".
As previously reported by ATI Delta chief executive officer Richard Anderson during a 26 January earnings discussion said absent anti-trust immunity its proposed partnership with JAL would still be "a significantly positive development".
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
