SHUSTER THREATENS TO REVOKE U.K. AIRLINE RIGHTS IN U.S.

   U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Penn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced legislation on Thursday that would revoke the U.S. air rights of all British airlines if a new U.S.-U.K. aviation agreement is not reached in a year.
   The legislation directs U.S. negotiators to make "substantial progress"
on opening the U.K. air market for U.S. carriers at talks with U.K.
officials scheduled to begin Monday.
   The bill mandates the signing of an agreement under which the U.K.
government will grant all current U.S. carrier route applications filed at
the Transportation Department for service to the U.K. It also mandates
increased access for U.S. carriers at London’s Heathrow International
Airport.
   The legislation says that U.S. regulators will revoke all current slots
and slot exemptions held by British carriers at O’Hare International
Airport and JFK International Airport if an agreement is not made within six months of the bill’s passage. The U.S. will revoke all U.K. carrier route rights in the U.S. if no "open skies" agreement is reached within one year of the bill’s passage, according to the legislation.
   "Under the current agreement, the British hold dominant rights to air
travel between the two countries," Shuster said. "To illustrate that point,
British Airways, one of the two British carriers serving the United States, is allowed to fly more routes to the U.S. than all U.S. carriers can fly to the U.K. combined.
   "This not fair and it must change," he said.