Regulators approve marketing deal among Nos. 3, 4 and 5 airlines WASHINGTON (AP) =97 Federal regulators gave the go-ahead Monday for Delta,= =20 Northwest and Continental airlines to sell seats on each other's flights.=20 The Nos. 3, 4 and 5 airlines reached an agreement with Transportation=20 Department officials after threatening in January to ignore conditions the= =20 government imposed on their original plan. Regulators were concerned the=20 "code-share" plan would stifle competition. "This was one that I was=20 worried was going to end up in civil war," said Darryl Jenkins, head of=20 George Washington University's Aviation Institute. The airlines agreed to=20 give up airport gates, but not as many as the Transportation Department=20 originally wanted. They agreed to limits federal regulators imposed on the= =20 number of code-share flights, but only for two years. And they agreed to=20 some, but not all, restrictions on how they can market joint contracts to=20 travel agents and corporations. In a statement, the Transportation Department said it will monitor the=20 airlines to make sure the agreement doesn't reduce competition. The=20 code-sharing agreement among Delta, Continental and Northwest will allow=20 them to reach more destinations without flying more planes and to offer=20 reciprocal benefits such as frequent flier miles. "This alliance will bring= =20 consumers lower fares, increased service levels and broader choices of=20 destinations," the airlines said in a statement. They intend to implement=20 the plan this summer. Delta was the force behind the agreement because it=20 wanted to protect its East Coast routes against US Airways and United=20 Airlines, which entered into a similar agreement in October, Jenkins said.= =20 The government required US Airways to code share with United as a condition= =20 of its obtaining a $900 million federal loan guarantee. The airline closed= =20 on the loan and emerged from bankruptcy on Monday. Jenkins said the=20 code-sharing agreement would at best minimize the damage the airlines are=20 suffering because of poor management, overcapacity, high labor costs and=20 fewer passengers due to the war in Iraq. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week:http://www.ttsailing.org/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************