American Airlines rounds up support for trans-Atlantic alliance FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) =97 American Airlines said Friday that 89 House=20 members have written to the Transportation Secretary in support of its=20 proposed deal with British Airways. The two carriers are seeking government= =20 approval for a so-called code-sharing agreement, which would let the=20 carriers sell tickets on many of each other's flights. Twice before, the=20 airlines have dropped similar requests after regulators proposed conditions= =20 on the American-British Airways alliance. Other airlines objected, saying=20 that working together, American and British Airways would be too dominant=20 at London's Heathrow Airport. Fort Worth-based American is the world's=20 largest carrier. American said Friday that 47 Democrats and 42 Republicans= =20 wrote to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, saying the deal would=20 boost the travel and tourism industries. In all, 17 Texas lawmakers signed the letter, as did House Democratic=20 Leader Richard Gephardt, whose St. Louis-area district includes former TWA= =20 workers now part of American; incoming House majority whip Roy Blunt,=20 R-Mo.; and Appropriations Committee chairman Bill Young, R-Fla. Last week,= =20 the airline said 37 senators signed a similar letter to Mineta. American=20 wants to sell seats on British Airways' flights from the United Kingdom to= =20 points in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. British Airways would=20 sell American flights from New York and other gateway cities to other=20 destinations in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.= =20 Each airline would get a portion of the fare it sells on the other's= flights. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************