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International Air Transport Association

By:  David O'Connor

International Air Transport Association

We have decided to grant the exemption application for the resolutions and recommended practices included in IATA's application. We find the exemption as granted, subject to certain understandings noted below, to be in the public interest. We are approving the exemption application for the same reasons we approved IATA's "first tranche" application. Our longstanding conditions have required IATA to file every change to PSC resolutions and recommended practices, whether or not their subject matter presented any policy issues. Many of these amendments involved material such as revalidations of agreements without change upon their expiry date, rescissions, and purely editorial changes. Our conditions have also prompted IATA to request immunity for every agreement filed, whether or not such agreements would have presented problems or raised questions under U.S. antitrust laws. While the CAB and the Department have maintained that all tariff conference actions were potentially significant and should be subject to prior oversight, the case for reviewing every agreement of the services and agency conferences is less compelling. ⁴ Most of the work of the services conferences involved technical standards and procedures, and seldom raised public interest issues. The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) has conducted similar work for decades without the benefit of government approval of antitrust immunity. Yet our blanket filing/approval conditions, which applied equally to all of IATA's traffic conferences activities, have forced a time-consuming Department review of many changes of little or no regulatory interest. This process often delays implementation by IATA of more efficient industry procedures that have no negative impact on competition or consumers. IATA has made an extensive study of its activities relative to its members' needs, and concluded that it no longer needs to seek antitrust immunity for many of the trade association and interline facilitation actions, which it automatically sought when forced to submit agreements for prior U.S. approval.

The resolutions and recommended practices for which IATA now seeks a filing exemption are generally among those which have been approved consistently in the past by the CAB and DOT; which have not presented consumer protection, competitive or other problems under aviation regulations and policy; and which have been identified by IATA as not raising legal difficulties under U.S. antitrust laws. We are aware of no changed circumstances which might affect these conclusions now or in the future. It is our judgment that the antitrust laws are a sufficient protection against abuse of the discussion authority which DOT has continued to give to the services conferences with regard to the subject matter of these agreements.

By:  Read Van de Water

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