American, British Airways alliance gets final OK WASHINGTON (AP) =97 American Airlines and British Airways will be able to=20 sell seats on each other's flights, except for nonstop trips between the=20 United States and London, under a code-sharing agreement approved Friday by= =20 the Transportation Department. The airlines had previously asked for=20 antitrust immunity, which would have allowed them to plan and coordinate=20 services. They dropped that request in the final application, the=20 department said. In a statement, the Transportation Department said the=20 arrangement "will produce new opportunities to the public benefiting=20 passengers, shippers and communities." Code-sharing allows airlines to=20 reach more places without flying more planes and to offer reciprocal=20 benefits. Though American and British Airways already had an agreement to=20 allow their customers to earn and redeem frequent flyer points on each=20 others' airlines, the agreement will make it easier for customers to do so,= =20 said Andrea Rader, American Airlines spokeswoman. "We're awful pleased to=20 finally get this going," Rader said. David Stempler, president of the Air=20 Travelers Association, applauded the decision because it will promote=20 competition. "As the airline marketplace becomes more globalized, what=20 we're going to see in the future is not competition between individual=20 airlines, but among various airline alliances," Stempler said. "The=20 stronger each alliance is, the more competition there will be."=20 Transportation officials tentatively approved the agreement on April 9. *************************************************** 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/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************