Several Potential Sticking Points Remain
Friday afternoon, US Transportation
Secretary Mary Peters announced negotiators with the United States
and the European Union reached a tentative agreement on easing
restrictions on trans-Atlantic flights.
If approved, the 'Open Skies' agreement "will offer more choice
and convenience to American consumers," said Peters in a
one-paragraph statement, that came hours after officials on the
European Commission announced they would ask EU heads of state to
approve the plan during a March 22 meeting.
Details of the plan weren't revealed, according to Bloomberg --
but European officials said the deal included US agreement to ease
at least some of that country's ban on foreign ownership of
domestic airlines. As Aero-News reported in
December, the DOT withdrew a proposal that would have
changed those rules governing international investment in US
airlines... a move many suspected would delay agreement on an Open
Skies plan.
As little is known yet about the actual plan, representatives on
both sides of the pond were cautious in their optimism about the
agreement.
"While we have not seen the details, this tentative agreement
has the potential for creating new avenues of economic development
between the US and Europe," said Air Transport Association
president James May.
May's European counterpart -- Association of European Airlines
secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus -- expressed skepticism
about the plan, noting "some fairly fundamental issues needed to be
resolved. We still have to review the small print."
That small print will reveal how the US plans to handle the
issue of foreign ownership, which has stalled DOT approval for
upstart carrier Virgin America, owned in part by Sir Richard
Branson's Virgin Group. Conversely, American carriers looking to
make inroads into London's Heathrow Airport will be curious to see
how, or if, the agreement resolves arguments concerning a deal
between American Airlines and British Airways, that effectively
locks other US carriers out of that airport.
"We have an opportunity to unlock major benefits on both sides
of the Atlantic," said EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.
"The open aviation area could be a centerpiece for a reinvigorated
trans-Atlantic relationship."
"The devil is always going to be in the detail with this kind of
agreement," said Ed Faberman, head of the Air Carriers Association,
which represents smaller US carriers. "I think we were at a point
with these talks that if they didn't do something, they weren't
going to be able to revisit this later."