Important! Support Aa And Write To Dot

MAH4546

Veteran
Aug 22, 2002
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As some may or may not know, six skyTeam airlines - Alitalia, Air France, Delta, Northwest, KLM, and CSA Czech - have asked for anti-trust immunity on trans-Atlantic routes:

http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori...04072447&EDATE=

This has become a hotly contested topic, because it would leave two US and four European airlines all sharing anti-trust immunity, which, IMO, is just insane. This proposed anti-trust will have six airlines controlling a huge majority of the traffic between the US and four countries - Italy, Czech Republic, France, and the Netherlands. Along with that, Aeroflot plans on asking to join in this anti-trust alliance once they join skyTeam

The DOT takes these issues seriously, and considers public feedback important matter. The more the better! American Airlines is strongly against this, and, as an AA flyers and employees, you should be too. You can support AA by filing a docket, which can be done anonymously if you chose (it is better, though, if you give at least your name; anoymous submissions obviously have less weight), here:

http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/dspSubmission.cfm

Under "Docket ID", enter the number 19214, and under "Document Title", fill in something allong the lines "Submission by XXX in Opposition (or, Approval, if you approve of it) of proposed skyTeam anti-trust". Then fill in as much or as little information as you'd like (this is being submitted to the US government; don't worry spam or anything such). On the next page, write as little or as much as you'd like: a one sentence "I oppose to the proposed anti-trust immunity between the skyTeam airlines"; a whole essay about why you think it's unfair that such a huge number of airlines may get anti-trust, while AA/BA can't; a paragraph on how you think it will be unfair compietition; or a few words on why you support this application.

Submitting a docket can take as little as two minutes of your time, and can help prevent this unfair anti-trust alliance from moving foward. American Airlines has already submitted more than one docket in opposition, the most recent which can be seen here (*.pdf link):

http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf92/339730_web.pdf

For those that are AA employees here, spread the word around at work and get people to submit individual dockets! Continental employees and customers are famous for flooding the DOT with dockets for every application CO submits, and the DOT looks at these things very, very seriously.
 
MAH4546 said:
.........................Continental employees and customers are famous for flooding the DOT with dockets for every application CO submits, and the DOT looks at these things very, very seriously.

Remember the good old days when Lorenzo just bought a judge?
 
MAH4546 said:
Continental employees and customers are famous for flooding the DOT with dockets for every application CO submits, and the DOT looks at these things very, very seriously.
[post="283100"][/post]​

Hilarious...clearly you don't know how the DOT works. These mass letter writing campaigns are actually considered an annoyance by the DOT. They provide no insight nor analytic rigor into the merits of the case. These letters are filed away and given virtually no consideration. The ONLY exception is if someone with real power (like a member of Congress) writes a letter.

As for BA/AA crying about the SkyTeam antitrust immunity....they have nothing to complain about. AA/BA has its little monopoly at LHR which is EXTREMELY anti-competitive. If AA is so worried about competition, tell them to have their little buddies over at BA open up LHR. But since that won't be happening, AA needs to stick a sock in it.
 
DLFlyer31 said:
Hilarious...clearly you don't know how the DOT works. These mass letter writing campaigns are actually considered an annoyance by the DOT. They provide no insight nor analytic rigor into the merits of the case. These letters are filed away and given virtually no consideration. The ONLY exception is if someone with real power (like a member of Congress) writes a letter.

As for BA/AA crying about the SkyTeam antitrust immunity....they have nothing to complain about. AA/BA has its little monopoly at LHR which is EXTREMELY anti-competitive. If AA is so worried about competition, tell them to have their little buddies over at BA open up LHR. But since that won't be happening, AA needs to stick a sock in it.
[post="283746"][/post]​
/quote]

Call me crazy, I just don't feel the love here..... :down:
 
DLFlyer31 said:
AA/BA has its little monopoly at LHR which is EXTREMELY anti-competitive. If AA is so worried about competition, tell them to have their little buddies over at BA open up LHR.
[post="283746"][/post]​

I wasn't aware that BA determined what the UK's policies were regarding air service bilaterals. I thought that was more Tony Blair's area, and his government is simply not interested in changing the status quo. Now, if the US's labor unions were to give up their opposition to cabotage (i.e. foreign carriers ability to carry domestic passengers on routes within the US) or foreign ownership of carriers (like Virgin America??), perhaps the UK might be willing to reconsider opening up LHR.

Plus, to be a monopoly, only one carrier can be involved. As long as VS & UA are flying from LHR to the US, it's not even a duopoly.

But that's OK. If Skyteam does get immunity, each and every one its arguments will be available for other carriers to use in their applications. And as John Kerry found out, it's really hard to fight your own words when they're used by someone else.
 
It's laughable to argue that the British government doesn't protect British Airways interests. About as laughable as American Airlines' statement that the DOT's policy of open skies and alliances is bad; the DOT was not amused. Amazing how AA decides public policy doesn't work when they are all of the sudden the underdog in the alliance world and when there are no more protected markets for AA to hide behind.

Let's count the three legislative failures AA will experience this fall:

1. Skyteam will get expanded antitrust immunity (although I expect there will be restrictions on cooperation between DL and NW).

2. N. Texas fares will come down through at least a phased-in lifting of the Wright Amendment or an LCC's entry into DFW. As long as the WA issue remains unresolved, no LCC is willing to commit to serving DFW. Ironically, lifting WA will allow an LCC to expand at DFW because the increased demand can not possibly be accommodated by AA.

3. DL and NW will get pension reform legislation that will help them and not just the half reform AA wanted and that would only benefit AA.

We'll see how well AA does when it has to play on the same level as the rest of the industry.
 
WorldTraveler said:
We'll see how well AA does when it has to play on the same level as the rest of the industry.
[post="283901"][/post]​

AA Can't compete. But they can cheat. Let's hope all 3 go against AA. After all, what is bad for AA is good for America.
 
CapnCockroach said:
After all, what is bad for AA is good for America.
[post="283918"][/post]​
Just when I thought I was going to give up on this board forever, CapnCockroach came through with an absolute gem. That is the funniest thing I have read in a while.
 
WorldTraveler said:
Let's count the three legislative failures AA will experience this fall:

1. Skyteam will get expanded antitrust immunity (although I expect there will be restrictions on cooperation between DL and NW).
[post="283901"][/post]​

It isn't going to happen. The DOT is most likely going to say no.
 
Former ModerAAtor said:
If US/UA couldn't fly with restrictions, I don't see how NW/DL/CO will.
[post="284027"][/post]​

That's a bad analogy. US and UA had a failed merger attempt. They now have an arragement (Star Alliance) very much like the existing one NW/DL/CO(SkyTeam) have.
 
DLFlyer31 said:
These mass letter writing campaigns are actually considered an annoyance by the DOT. They provide no insight nor analytic rigor into the merits of the case. These letters are filed away and given virtually no consideration. The ONLY exception is if someone with real power (like a member of Congress) writes a letter.
[post="283746"][/post]​
How about when the Department of Justice weighs in?

http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf93/342755_web.pdf
 
Yea right.

After 9-11 I wrote to help get the airlines their bailout but when Labor asked for support to get government relief for laid off workers they got the cold shoulder.

Let them spend some of the $120,000 they took from me on lobbists instead of using it to fund their own bonuses.
 
MAH4546 said:
As some may or may not know, six skyTeam airlines - Alitalia, Air France, Delta, Northwest, KLM, and CSA Czech - have asked for anti-trust immunity on trans-Atlantic routes....

....American Airlines is strongly against this, and, as an AA flyers and employees, you should be too.

I thought the goal of AA was to (eventually) get anti-trust immunity with BA on trans-Atlantic routes. If AA comes out strongly against SkyTeam, won't that just delay AA/BA EVER getting anti-trust immunity? And won't that increase the cost for them to do so (i.e. by making them give up more LHR slots, etc.)? Being against Skyteam anti-trust seems to me to be extremely short-sighted.