Yesterday, the US Department of Justice tentatively approved antitrust immunity for several SkyTeam carriers:
The decision, if finalized, will enable Northwest, Delta Air
Lines, Air France-KLM, Alitalia, and
CSA Czech Airlines to expand their transatlantic networks by
coordinating schedules and services.
And an article by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Tribune has a quote from Northwest's CEO, Doug Steenland:
Steenland was at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday for
a ceremony marking the inaugural nonstop flight between the Twin Cities
and Paris. Northwest's ability to attract passengers to support that service would
be greatly enhanced by antitrust immunity with the other carriers,
Steenland said.
The Wall Street Journal speculates that this makes a Delta/Northwest merger one step closer to reality:
Although
not directly related to continuing efforts by Delta and Northwest to
negotiate a merger, the ruling paves the way for easier integration of
the routes both carriers fly to Europe.
Most of these articles don't make it clear that if this is approved it will allow these airlines to share revenue on their transatlantic routes. This sort of revenue sharing is not unheard of. United and Lufthansa do it. So do Northwest and KLM/Air France.
While it may make scheduling more convenient and perhaps provide easier ability to switch between carriers, by essentially reducing the number of airlines competing for dollars on transatlantic routes you would think this would help the airlines be able to raise fares.
