By Doug Cameron
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)
The U.K. airline jumped on recent comments from Gerard Arpey, Chairman and CEO of American parent AMR Corp. (AMR), warning that JAL, owned by Japan Airlines Corp. (9205.TO, JALSY), could face insurmountable regulatory hurdles if it left American to join Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) in its SkyTeam alliance.
The U.K. airline has been the staunchest opponent of American's separate efforts to secure antitrust immunity for its own Oneworld alliance.
Arpey this week cited the market share of a combined JAL-Delta on routes between the U.S. and Japan, as well as congestion issues at Tokyo's Narita airport.
Virgin, in a regulatory filing, said that American and British Airways PLC (BAY-LN, BAIRY) would have an even higher share of routes between London and the U.S., maintaining that Heathrow was even more congested because of slot constraints.
"The Department [of Transportation] should not countenance this hypocrisy," said Virgin in its filing.
Steve Ridgeway, Virgin's chief executive, said in a statement that he "absolutely agrees with American Airlines that a high level of market concentration should be an insurmountable hurdle to obtain antitrust immunity for a possible alliance such as BA/AA."
American has intensified its public lobbying this week to retain loss-making JAL as a partner in Oneworld amid the rival offer from Delta.
Delta's proposal to cover JAL's transition costs from Oneworld and indemnify it against any lost revenue is likely to include financial backing from other SkyTeam members, notably Air France-KLM (AF.FR, AFLYY)and Korean Air Co. Ltd (003490.SE), according to people familiar with the situation.
Both have existing partnerships with the Japanese carrier, unlike Delta. American has not said whether other Oneworld members such as British Airways PLC or Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) might contribute to its proposed investment in JAL, which could also include TPG, the private equity group.
-By Doug Cameron; 312-750-4135; doug.cameron@dowjones.com