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American, SAir extend tie
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November 18, 1999: 4:21 a.m. ET
AMR Corp. and Swissair seek antitrust waiver for code share
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LONDON (CNNfn) - American Airlines and Swissair plan to expand their code-sharing agreement, the companies said Thursday, and they will apply for an antitrust waiver from the U.S. government.
The two have limited links already, but SAir Group , the parent of Swissair, plans to include Belgian affiliate Sabena and other members of its Qualiflyer alliance in the pact. It will seek government authority to coordinate fares and schedules with AMR Corp. (AMR), parent of American.
"Subsequent to concluding a 10-year cooperation agreement and the introduction of code-share flights to Chicago, Boston, Miami and Washington, announced earlier this year and scheduled to begin Nov. 21, the three partners will apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation for antitrust immunity for their alliance," the companies said in a statement.
"Over the course of 2000 we will dismantle the previous cooperation agreement we had with Delta Air Lines (DAL) and increasingly focus on our new partner, American Airlines," said Philippe Bruggisser, SAir Group chief executive.
Part of the expanded cooperation between the companies involves collaboration on their respective frequent-flyer programs. In time, the companies intend to extend the code-sharing partnership to all transatlantic flights between Switzerland, Belgium and the United States, and to all the companies' onward connections in Europe and the United States.
Analysts said the deal could be the first step to bringing Swissair into the oneworld global alliance which American heads with British Airways (BAY). U.S. antitrust regulators prevented closer ties between BA and American.
The latest deal would allow American to compete on equal terms with the two other major transatlantic alliances - Star, headed by United Airlines and Lufthansa, and the Wings alliance led by KLM and Northwest Airlines. Both rivals already have antitrust immunity.
The Qualiflyer network, headed by SAir, also involves companies such as TAP Air Portugal and THY Turkish Airlines.
SAir Group investors were relatively unimpressed with the deal, pushing the stock down 1 percent in early Zurich trade to 325 Swiss francs.
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Swissair
AMR Corp.
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