SWISSAIR, AMERICAN SIGN 10-YEAR MARKETING AGREEMENT
SAirGroup’s Swissair has signed a 10-year marketing partnership with AMR
Corp.’s American Airlines, the second-largest U.S. airline.
American, Swissair and Sabena Belgian World Airways, Swissair’s
49.5-percent-owned subsidiary, will ask the U.S. Department of
Transportation for antitrust immunity approval to set rates and agree on
seating capacities. The airlines expect an answer from the DOT in four to six months.
The airlines plan in the coming years to expand code-sharing agreements to
all flights operating between Switzerland, Belgium and the United States, to all of
American’s U.S. destinations and to all of its European destinations.
Swissair said the marketing deal with American does not include
membership in the oneworld Alliance, which includes British Airways.