DOT proposes guidelines to combat unfair airline competition
     WASHINGTON - April 6, 1998 10:07 a.m. EDT -- The Transportation
 Department is proposing its first set of guidelines on what consti-
 tutes unfair competition in the airline industry, hoping to pinpoint
 cases in which large carriers drive out smaller ones by lowering
 prices.
     The policy, set to be announced Monday by Transportation Secre-
 tary Rodney Slater, sets out markers to signal to the government
 whether an airline is unfairly trying to eliminate competition and
 whether enforcement action is needed.
     Major carriers, in responding to new airlines in their hub
 cities, "appear to be straying beyond the confines of legitimate
 competition into the region of unfair competition, behavior which
 ... we have not only a mandate but an obligation to prohibit," said
 a department policy statement.
    The guidelines focus on large airlines that cut prices and in-
 crease seating capacity, even if at huge expense, to push smaller,
 newer carriers out of business. Although ticket prices might drop
 in the short run, such practices ultimately hurt the consumer when
 there are only a few carriers left controlling air service, accord-
 ing to the statement.
     "Once a new entrant has ceased its service, the major carrier
 will typically retrench its capacity in the market or raise its
 fares to at least their pre-entry levels, or both," the Transpor-
 tation Department said.
     Moves by major airlines to reduce ticket costs in order to
 force out competition and maintain control at their hub airports
 could trigger a government crackdown, possibly including hearings
 before administrative law judges.
     The new guidelines come 20 years after the deregulation of the
 domestic airline industry, allowing carriers to determine their own
 routes and prices. Under deregulation, the Transportation Department
 maintained the right to stop unfair competition, but it has never
 taken official action against a carrier.
     According to the policy statement, these new guidelines do not
 signal a shift toward re-regulating the industry. Slater, on pre-
 vious occasions, has said that part of making deregulation a success
 is ensuring that all airlines can compete.
     "Our responsibility at the Department of Transportation is to
 ensure that every airline -- large or small, new or established --
 has the opportunity to compete freely," Slater said at an American
 Bar Association meeting in January. "That is what deregulation is
 supposed to be all about -- a fair chance to compete."
     But the policy, which is now subject to a 60-day comment period
 before it can take effect, is bound to meet with resistance from
 some major carriers who do not want the government intervening in
 the marketplace. Robert L. Crandall, American Airlines chairman and
 chief executive officer, has spoken out against government involve-
 ment, saying large airlines should not be punished for smart busi-
 ness practices.
     "Those who complain fail to recognize that an established air-
 line which rises to the challenge of a new entrant is doing only
 what any business in a free market must do -- seeking to increase
 the attractiveness of its product," Crandall told the National Press
 Club last fall.
     "The idea that the government should respond to these market
 phenomena by tilting the playing field in favor of new-entrant car-
 riers strikes me as entirely inconsistent with the intent and spirit
 of deregulation."
     Under the policy, the Transportation Department also would look
 into whether major carriers are blocking out competition from smaller
 airlines by hoarding gates, setting up contracts with local airport
 authorities or offering frequent flyer programs.
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            Tuskegee Airman Alfred McKenzie dead at 80
  FT. WASHINGTON, Md. - April 6, 1998 10:19 AM EDT - Alfred McKenzie,
 a Tuskegee Airman and a civil rights activist, died March 30. He
 was 80.
     McKenzie, who trained at Tuskegee, Ala., during World War II
 with the military's first group of black pilots, was one of 101
 black Army Air Corps officers who received reprimands in 1945 after
 refusing to sign a document forbidding them from entering an
 officer's club.
     After the war, he returned to his job at the Government Printing
 Office in his native Washington, D.C., and fought for equal promo-
 tion opportunities throughout his career.
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 Question?  Did he fly combat with the 332nd Fighter Group? I do not
 know. Chappie James did not. They were stationed just north of my
 outfit in Italy.  Jim
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