Analysts say the year-old Open Skies aviation pact, which encouraged partnerships such as Delta Air Lines with Air France, has brought passengers lower fares and improved schedules even as airlines buck global economic head winds.It now costs about as much for me to fly to Europe from the East Coast of the U.S. as it does for me to fly to the West Coast, said Ernest Arvai, an airline industry consultant based in Windham, N.H.
Airlines agree that the Open Skies pact - an agreement between the United States and the European Union that ended limits on airlines flying between the United States and Europe and opened Londons Heathrow Airport to all U.S. carriers - has yielded broad benefits since taking effect March 28, 2008.
Its resulted in better fares and better frequencies and better scheduling and better product, David Bishko, Deltas Paris-based managing director for alliances, said in a phone interview. He said that ordinarily a global economic downturn as severe as todays would have spelled financial disaster for many airlines. But we were able to really get our costs down even before the downturn, not only because of lowering fuel costs but also because of the benefits of our partnerships and Open Skies, Bishko said.
Theres no question that Open Skies has benefited consumers via new market entry, and the antitrust-immune partnerships have inaugurated nonstop services that no single carrier would risk, he said.
Source: Shelley Emling,
Sky pact is bright spot for airlines, AJC.com, March 29, 2009.
For text:
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/29/deltaeurope0329.html
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 21 April 2009