THE long-awaited UK/US agreement on open skies is unlikely to happen, according to United Airlines’ most senior executive dealing with bilateral issues, writes Paul Norris from Chicago.
Vice-president international and regulatory affairs Mike Whitaker said instead the European Commission will overrule UK proposals. “The EC will take an increasingly important role in the process,” he said. “We will move away from bilateral talks to multilateral talks. The US should negotiate with the EC rather than with the UK.”
Whitaker aired his views as UK and US officials prepare to meet in Washington later this month to try to revive open-skies talks.
n United is demanding Virgin Atlantic waits until October before launching Heathrow-Chicago flights. The US carrier is unhappy with Virgin for going direct to the US Department of Transportation to seek an August start date, which could mean United has to give up slots.