Oneworld Offers to Free Up Airport Slots

BRUSSELS (TheStreet) -- AMR's(AMR) American Airlines, British Airways (BAY) and Iberia offered to make takeoff and landing slots available to competitors at airports in London and New York in an effort to assuage antitrust concerns.

The European Commission said on its Web site Wednesday it would take comments from other airlines to determine if giving up the slots addresses concerns that the planned alliance could hurt consumers on routes to New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami.

The airports affected include London Heathrow, London Gatwick or New York John F. Kennedy.

"If the market test confirms that the proposed commitments remedy the competition concerns, the Commission may adopt a decision ... making the commitments legally binding on the parties," the European Commission said.

American, British Airways and Iberia also said they would provide access to their frequent flyer programs, the commission said.

The European Commission sent a letter in the fall to American, British Airways and Iberia saying that the airlines' oneworld alliance may be in breach of European antitrust rules.

The airlines want to expand the alliance to jointly manage schedules, capacity and pricing on flights from the Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Norway and Switzerland. Right now, the airlines coordinate flights between the U.S. and E.U.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York.

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