[Federal Register: November 19, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 223)]
[Notices]
[Page 69804]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19no02-141]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Review Under 49 U.S.C. 41720 of Delta/Northwest/Continental
Agreements
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Extension of waiting period.
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SUMMARY: Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines
have submitted code-sharing and frequent-flyer program reciprocity
agreements to the Department for review under 49 U.S.C. 41720. That
statute requires such agreements between major U.S. passenger airlines
to be submitted to the Department at least thirty days before the
agreements' proposed effective date and authorizes the Department to
extend the waiting period for these agreements at the end of the
thirty-day period. The Department has determined to extend the waiting
period for the Delta/Northwest/Continental code-share agreements for an
additional thirty days, from November 21 to December 21, 2002.
Any supplemental comments must be submitted by December 4, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be filed with Randall Bennett, Director,
Office of Aviation Analysis, Room 6401, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 7th St. SW., Washington, DC 20590. Late filed
comments will be considered to the extent possible. To facilitate
consideration of comments, each commenter should file three copies of
its comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Ray, Office of the General
Counsel, 400 Seventh St. SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4731.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Delta, Northwest, and Continental submitted
code-sharing and frequent-flyer program reciprocity agreements to us
for review under 49 U.S.C. 41720 on August 23. That statute requires
such agreements between major U.S. airlines to be submitted to us more
than thirty days before their planned implementation, and it authorizes
us to extend the waiting period by up to 150 days for code-sharing
agreements and by up to sixty days for other types of agreements. We
have already extended the waiting period for these agreements twice by
thirty days. 67 FR 59328 (September 20, 2002); 67 FR 64960 (October 22,
2002). We have determined to extend the waiting period for the code-
share agreement for an additional thirty days to give us time to
consider the supplemental comments being submitted by other parties
interested in the agreement. While we cannot extend the waiting period
for the frequent flyer reciprocity agreement again, we are continuing
to examine the competitive issues raised by the frequent flyer
reciprocity agreement, and we request that parties address those issues
in their comments as well.
We have been informally reviewing the agreements submitted by
Delta, Continental, and Northwest and discussing the competitive issues
with the Justice Department. Our review of the agreements is focusing
on whether they may reduce competition. To bar the parties from
implementing the agreements, we would need to determine that they were
unlawful under 49 U.S.C. 41712 as an unfair method of competition, that
is, that the agreements violate the antitrust laws or antitrust
principles. See United Air Lines v. CAB, 766 F.2d 1101 (7th Cir. 1985).
Our review is analogous to the review of major mergers and acquisitions
conducted by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission
under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, 15 U.S.C. 18a, since we are
considering whether we should institute a formal proceeding for
determining whether an agreement would violate section 41712.
To assist us in our review, we have given interested parties the
opportunity to submit comments on the agreements, initially on the
basis of redacted copies of the agreements and more recently on the
basis of unredacted copies, subject to restrictions designed to ensure
that the confidential business information in the agreements does not
become public. We made the unredacted copies of the agreements
available to the parties on November 12 after giving Delta,
Continental, and Northwest some advance notice of our decision to make
the copies available. 67 FR 69297 (November 15, 2002).
Any supplemental comments must be submitted no later than December
4. That deadline will give the parties adequate time to submit any
additional analysis based on their review of the unredacted material.
We will then consider all of the comments and the information provided
by Delta, Continental, and Northwest and further consult with the
Justice Department. We hope to make a final decision by December 21 on
whether more formal action should be taken on the agreements.
Issued in Washington, DC on November 15, 2002.
Read C. Van de Water,
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 02-29490 Filed 11-15-02; 2:06 pm]
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