Delta Air Lines, Inc. / KLM Royal Dutch Airlines / Northwest Airlines, Inc. / Societe Air France / Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane-S.p.A. / Czech Airlines

Order 04-11-15
OST-04-19214 - Approval of and Antitrust Immunity for Alliance Agreements

Issued and Served November 18, 2004

Order Requesting Additional Information

By this Order, the Department requests additional information, as described in the Attachment to this Order, from Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane-S.p.A., Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Inc., KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Inc., and Société Air France. The Department believes the additional information is necessary to analyze the application and to make its decision in this case.

American makes a compelling case that this application potentially presents novel issues (including the presence of two major competing U.S. carriers in a single immunized alliance and the competitive impact of the effective combination of two global alliance networks). Against that backdrop, the Department has determined that the submission of additional information as set out in the Attachment to this Order is necessary for the Department to develop a complete factual record to adjudicate the application. It will also afford interested parties, such as American, a meaningful opportunity to consider and comment on the application. Requesting such additional evidence in an antitrust immunity proceeding is neither unprecedented nor at odds with Departmental precedent that has always made clear that the type and quantum of information necessary to fairly and effectively adjudicate an application may vary based on the specific facts and issues presented by different applications. See also 14 C.F.R. § 303.04(g) (authorizing the Assistant Secretary to order any applicant to submit additional information).

By: Karan Bhatia