The European Commission has raised objections against the 'oneworld' airline alliance (consisting of British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia) proposed cooperation on passenger air transport services on transatlantic routes. The Commission sent a statement of objections which is a formal step in antitrust investigations in which the Commission informs the parties concerned in writing of the objections raised against them.
Rival airlines have complained that the proposal would curb competition in several important routes, with Virgin Atlantic, owned by Richard Branson, terming the proposal as something that would create a 'monster monopoly' with power to collude on prices. The proposal would have resulted in the parties jointly managing schedules, capacity and pricing, as well as sharing revenues on transatlantic routes between North America and Europe.
The Commission is currently investigating similar agreements between Star Alliance (Lufthansa, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and Air Canada among others) and Skyteam (Air France-KLM, Delta Airlines etc.), alliances which have been granted immunity by authorities in the United States on the other side of the Atlantic, but that immunity is unlikely to have any impact on any decision the European Commission might take.
Also read:New York Times Report and European Commission Press Release
Rival airlines have complained that the proposal would curb competition in several important routes, with Virgin Atlantic, owned by Richard Branson, terming the proposal as something that would create a 'monster monopoly' with power to collude on prices. The proposal would have resulted in the parties jointly managing schedules, capacity and pricing, as well as sharing revenues on transatlantic routes between North America and Europe.
The Commission is currently investigating similar agreements between Star Alliance (Lufthansa, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and Air Canada among others) and Skyteam (Air France-KLM, Delta Airlines etc.), alliances which have been granted immunity by authorities in the United States on the other side of the Atlantic, but that immunity is unlikely to have any impact on any decision the European Commission might take.
Also read:New York Times Report and European Commission Press Release
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