(FORTUNE Magazine) – If the U.S. can approve a virtual merger of Northwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, what's holding up similar deals that would link Continental with Air Canada and an investor group, or USAir with British Airways? As the charts show, both Continental and USAir need an infusion of cash, and foreign partners would provide it. USAir would get $750 million from BA under an agreement between the companies, and Continental $450 million from its would-be investors. President Bush has said he would let the Department of Transportation make the call on the BA deal. But if it drags on, the issue will land in Bill Clinton's lap. He has said his support depends on increased U.S. access to foreign markets. The Northwest-KLM deal met that requirement when the Netherlands opened up to all U.S. airlines. The Air Canada-Continental deal is more likely to get Clinton's nod, in part because the U.S. and Canada have agreed to negotiate an open market. That would let Continental CEO Robert Ferguson bring the carrier out of Chapter 11 -- just as Frank Lorenzo, a predecessor, did in 1986. Hollis Harris, CEO between Lorenzo and Ferguson, filed for bankruptcy again, in 1990. Harris now heads Air Canada. Prospects for the USAir-BA flight plan are not nearly so rosy. Britain, undoubtedly spurred on by BA, is reluctant to open its airports any further until the U.S. relaxes its ban on foreigners owning more than 49% of the stock of a U.S. carrier or 25% of its voting shares. Approval would open up the world to USAir and feed foreign travelers to its domestic routes. Both, claims CEO Seth Schofield, would be a ''nightmare'' for competitors. -- S.L.

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