Qantas, American Air to seek Trump's approval for partnership
- BTN News
- Monday, 30 January 2017
USA-based American Airlines and Australia's Qantas may reapply to the US Transportation Department for permission to co-ordinate prices and flight schedules now the Trump administration is in charge.
The pair's application for a joint venture covering the United States, Australia and New Zealand markets was rejected as recently as November under the Obama administration.
The two airlines hope new president Donald Trump's administration will be easier on anti-trust enforcement.
In the meantime, the two carriers will scrap code-sharing on overlapping routes to highlight to authorities the benefits of the airlines working together.
"It will mean people will not get the same status credits as they got on American Airlines aircraft, because we don't do that with any other carrier on routes without a joint venture," Qantas ceo Alan Joyce said.
Regulators in Australia and New Zealand earlier approved a earlier requested joint venture before the Obama administration blocked it.