UNITEDAirlines has confirmed it will seek anti-trust immunity from the USgovernment in order to co-operate with new Star Alliance partner British Midland on transatlantic flights.
The agreement will cover sales, schedules and codesharing from Heathrow to a range of US destinations.
British Midland is aiming to start US flights simultaneously for summer 2000 from Heathrow and Manchester to destinations including Chicago, New York and Washington.
It will need the services of United to boost passenger numbers in the competitive transatlantic market and to have the ability to feed customers on to the US carrier’s domestic network.
United’s director of alliances Bruce Harris said his airline was seeking the right to share services and marketing in the same way as the airline has done with Lufthansa, SAS and Air Canada.
But he claimed this would not lead to the UK airline having to cut its ties with non-Star Alliance carriers and being unable to develop.
He said: “We will cross-codeshare on British Midland flights but alliances are not a contractual noose on the ability to grow.
“We increased the Germany-US market after the deal with Lufthansa.”
Harris said British Midland was free to keep its codeshare deals with carriers such as Cathay Pacific and American Airlines but warned it had to ensure Star Alliance partners came first.
“British Midland must offer one-stop check-in, lounge access and preferred check-in for Star Alliance passengers,” he said.
The United deal depends on UK-US bilateral agreement, expected to be drawn up next year.
Negotiators will focus on Star Alliance’s 27% slot holding at Heathrow as opposed to the British Airways-led Oneworld group, which has some 50%.
Meanwhile, British Midland has given its two most senior executives new titles following the announcement the carrier is to join Star Alliance next year. Former chairman Sir Michael Bishop is now executive chairman and group managing director Austin Reid becomes chief executive.