Transatlantic Airline Alliances: The Joint EU-US Report

Abstract

The European Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation recently released a joint report to help develop a common understanding of aviation competition issues and build compatible regulatory approaches. The report highlights the general uniformity across the U.S. and European Union approaches to airline alliance competition issues and makes the case for further cooperation and coordination. Furthering the goal of harmonization, however, will be enhanced by reconciling key differences in regulatory regime and analytical approaches, particularly in regard to grants of antitrust immunity. Both airlines and regulators in the U.S. and European Union face the question of how entry by low cost carriers on transatlantic routes will change the alliance landscape.