Hawaiian Airlines wants more balanced playing field against Qantas

Hawaiian Airlines, whose objections to regulators have helped to delay a revenue-sharing agreement between Qantas Airways and American Airlines for the past year, is continuing to push for a better balanced playing field for smaller airlines. Qantas and American agreed on a trans-Pacific joint venture last June but have yet to receive approvals from the United States Department of Transportation following opposition from Hawaiian and JetBlue. There is industry speculation the inability to share revenue on the route could be among the factors contributing to declining fares on Qantas' international routes, because Qantas switched flights from the proven Sydney-Los Angeles route to reopen the Sydney-San Francisco route as part of the proposed deeper alliance agreement. Hawaiian CE Mark Dunkerley said his airline objected to such joint ventures because they represented "virtual mergers" between dominant airlines on both ends of the route. "That can have a very decisive impact in limiting the amount of competition from independent carriers," he said. "It is not so much that we have an issue with that alliance per se. I think the broader issue we have is essentially the direction of competition policy as it affects the airline industry." Dunkerley has argued that joint ventures between US and European carriers have significantly raised prices for consumers on trans-Atlantic routes and the same could occur in the trans-Pacific market. In a presentation last year, he cited statistics showing since 2000, the percentage of trans-Atlantic traffic on alliances had risen to 87% from 41%. In the same period the average fare price, adjusted for inflation, rose by 22%. However, trans-Pacific fares have been falling in recent times as a result of stiff competition between carriers. <br/>