home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- THE WEEK, Page 15BUSINESSIn the End, This Bird Won't Fly
-
-
- British Air withdraws its controversial plan for a transatlantic
- partnership
-
-
- Had the deal gone through, air travelers could have flown from
- St. Louis to Nairobi with a single check-in and minimal airport
- delays. But British Airways withdrew its plan to invest $750
- million in struggling USAir after U.S. Transportation Secretary
- Andrew Card vowed to reject the arrangement. Card balked at the
- partnership, which would have plugged USAir flights into British
- Airways' globe-spanning route map, after Britain refused to give
- U.S. carriers expanded use of London's Heathrow Airport.
-
- The collapse of the deal marked a victory of sorts for
- American, United and Delta airlines. The Big Three charged that
- the arrangement would siphon off international business unless
- Britain reciprocated by granting them increased access to
- Heathrow, London's main international gateway.
-
- Not that the feds were entirely friendly to the U.S.
- companies. The Justice Department charged the Big Three and five
- other U.S. carriers with using a computerized reservation system
- to fix ticket prices. USAir and United settled the action,
- without admitting or denying the charges. Undaunted, many
- airlines announced a new round of fare hikes for business
- travel, effective Christmas Eve.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-