AA-BA decision won’t be in 2009

The U.S. Department of Transportation made it clear Tuesday that American Airlines and its partners won't get an answer before January on their application for a joint business agreement.

DOT issued an order Tuesday that gives interested parties until Jan. 11 to file comments in the case.

Previously, DOT had set a May 28, 2009, deadline for comments. But the applicants had filed comments to respond to Department of Justice objections to a different case, opponent Virgin Atlantic Airways had again spelled out the reasons DOT should turn it down and others filed their own late comments.

In Tuesday's order, the DOT:

• Gave interested parties to Jan. 11 to file new comments.

• Granted all the requests since May 28 for permission to file comments.

• Limited comments to issues raised since May 28, including the Justice Department's review and criticism of the application. DOJ filed comments with its concerns Monday, the last holdup before a DOT decision.

• Asked permission of the applicants to make public some of the market data involved in the case so that DOT's order could discuss market shares on nonstop and connecting routes.

"In deciding this application for antitrust immunity, we believe that it would be beneficial if the Department could cite market share information on the public record that is similar to what the applicants and interested parties have also cited on the public record," wrote Susan L. Kurland, assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs. "The information could be useful to assess the competitive effects of the proposed alliance."

It's anyone's guess how long after Jan. 11 the DOT will rule. But a decision by the end of January isn't out of the question.

American and other Oneworld members British Airways, Iberia, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Finnair in August 2008 filed their request to work together on transatlantic routes. Included is a request for antitrust immunity for American, BA and Iberia's partnership.

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