United Wants Joint Venture With Air Canada
CHICAGO (
) --
United
(UAL) - Get Report
said it wants to create more joint ventures with anti-trust immunity, particularly in Latin America and Canada.
Speaking Wednesday at the Hudson Securities airline conference, United CEO Jeff Smisek said United is "looking at a trans-border joint venture" with
Air Canada
. Additionally, he said, "We're keenly interested ... to form a joint venture in Latin America as well; we will pursue that."
|
Smisek did not name any potential Latin partners, but the Brazilian carrier
TAM
is a member of the Star Alliance and last month, both
Avianca-Taca
, which combines Columbian and El Salvadoran airlines, and
Copa
, based in Panama, agreed to join Star.
"We think there's a tremendous opportunity for us in JVs," Smisek said. "We compete across the world with everybody, and JVs are a powerful competitive tool for us."
United has a transatlantic joint venture with anti-trust immunity with Air Canada,
Continental
and
Lufthansa
. This year, regulators approved its request for a transpacific joint venture with
ANA.
-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.
>To contact the writer of this article, click here:
Ted Reed