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The hopes of British Airways for securing an alliance deal with American Airlines has taken a hit from American regulators only a few days after the proposed merger between the British airline and Qantas, the national carrier of Australia, collapsed. The US Department of Transportation ordered British Airways to file further detailed information about their tie-up with the American carrier in relation to their ambitions of expanding globally, the impact it will have on the industry of travel retail, as well as other merger plans that the British carrier currently has.
This mandate request, which analysts are warning may delay a deal for a number of months, was given to British Airways and American Airlines in a detailed file on Friday night from the Department of Transportation. Just last week, Willie Walsh, the Chief executive of British Airways, walked away from merger talks with Qantas, which would have been a major leap in the direction of becoming the first genuinely worldwide carrier in the world.
In the report, the Department of Transportation acknowledged that they made the decision to force the carrier and other airlines to provide the data after being pleaded to by Virgin, US travel agents, and Air France. The emergence of US travel agents and Air France in questioning this alliance will likely add to the argument from Virgin that the tie-up will become a monster monopoly.
Data that is demanded from the airlines include: details on take-off and landing fares and slots; details on how the merger may affect pricing and capacity decisions; and documents that have been previously withheld because they were deemed confidential.
Find out more about the airlines at: www.biritshairways.com -or- www.aa.com
source: comparecarhire.co.uk
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