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Air link to U.K. may resume Pact would allow US Airways to fly nonstop to London Friday, March 31, 2000 By Frank Reeves, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The United States and Great Britain appear close to agreeing on a plan that would allow the resumption of nonstop flights between Pittsburgh and London.
U.S. and British negotiators met yesterday in Washington. At the end of the daylong talks, British officials described the meeting as useful, saying it "should lead to the early resumption of direct services between Pittsburgh and London."
"The United States government made a proposal in this [matter] to which the U.K. government has undertaken to reply by next week," the British statement continued.
U.S. Department of Transportation officials, who represented the United States in the aviation talks, had no immediate comment.
Neither side disclosed the details of the U.S. proposal, which appears to be the linchpin of the agreement.
But others close to the negotiations said that in exchange for getting the British to open up the Pittsburgh-London route, the United States had agreed to allow a British carrier access to an additional destination in the United States.
Pittsburgh has been without nonstop service to London since October, when British Airways abandoned the route.
In January, the two countries broke off formal aviation treaty negotiations on a range of issues, including resumption of direct flights between Pittsburgh and London.
Since then, there have been informal talks between the two countries, including a meeting earlier this month between British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater.
The Clinton administration has been pressing Britain to allow a U.S. carrier to take over the Pittsburgh-London route. The aviation treaty between the two countries, known as Bermuda II, does not allow a U.S. carrier to take over the route without British approval.
British officials said yesterday that both sides agreed on the need to liberalize their bilateral aviation treaty and hoped to conclude a new pact by the end of the year.
US Airways, Pittsburgh's dominant airline, has formally applied for the Pittsburgh-London route.
US Airways said that yesterday's talks in Washington were "a very positive move in the right direction."
The airline has counted on increased trans-Atlantic flights as one of the ways to boost its sagging earnings.
Until the breakdown of the aviation talks last January, US Airways had hoped the dispute over the Pittsburgh-London route would be resolved so the airline could begin service between the two cities by the busy summer tourist season.
Controversy over the Pittsburgh-London route has become a flash point in an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the two countries over aviation issues.
U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the British government during the aviation talks.
Last month, Shuster, R-Everett, said Congress should direct the Clinton administration to impose sanctions on British carriers if the two countries couldn't agree on a plan to resume Pittsburgh-London flights. The sanctions would have included denying landing slots to British planes at some major U.S. airports.
He also refused to meet with Britain's ambassador to Washington, despite repeated invitations.
Shuster said yesterday he was pleased that the two countries were close to an agreement on the Pittsburgh-London route.
"I think it is crucial for Pittsburgh and the Tri-State area," he said.
Earlier this month, Congress stopped short of directing the Clinton administration to impose sanctions, as Shuster had threatened.
Instead, lawmakers attached language to a $40 billion bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration that urged the Clinton administration to impose sanctions. Support for the provision was widely seen as an expression of congressional anger and frustration over pace of the aviation talks.
Shuster said he and Slater, the Clinton administration's point man in the aviation talks, had worked together to put pressure on British officials.
"We played good cop, bad cop. I raised hell up here, refused to meet with the ambassador, while Rodney Slater was always the gentlemen," Shuster said.
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