American Airlines and British Airways drop alliance application
American and British Airways has filed a document with the US Transportation Department to dismiss their alliance application.
The alliance was blocked last month when the Transportation Department said it would oppose granting antitrust immunity to the airlines unless they surrendered 224 weekly takeoff and landing slots at London’s Heathrow Airport.
David Cush, American’s vice president – International Affairs, said:
“The action taken today is done with genuine regret, and our decision was made only after concluding that there is virtually no prospect for the U.S. government to approve our application under an acceptable set of conditions that would allow our commercial agreement and U.S./U.K. open skies to go forward.
“The American Airlines-British Airways alliance will be put at a disadvantage in its ability to compete with existing transatlantic airline alliances, but our respective companies remain firmly committed to enhancing our marketing relationship and cooperating in ways allowed for under the existing U.S.-U.K. aviation agreement. We are focusing our efforts on how our bilateral relationship – as well as the broader oneworld alliance that we anchor – can continue to grow and succeed. Moving forward, we must turn our attention to how we can maximize our strengths and our deepening relationship with British Airways to the benefit of our shareholders, our employees, our customers, and the communities that we serve.”
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