market has some high profile support, such as Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, it also has powerful opposition, including U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, which has scheduled hearings on the proposed UAL-US Airways deal for next week.Even if that deal and other domestic mergers went through, Shuster would not support overseas airlines taking passengers between U.S. cities, said a senior committee staff member."Mr. Shuster will proudly say that in aviation, he's a protectionist," said his staffer, who spoke on a not-for-attribution basis.The staffer said new moves to open U.S. airports to new carriers will do enough to ensure choice for fliers."Most major airports in the U.S. are already dominated by one airline," he said. "I don't know how much worse it can get than what we have right now."In Europe, barriers between European countries have been lowered along with other economic barriers, opening the way for deals such as the one being discussed between British Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. But agreements with non-EU nations are still done on a country-by-country basis, meaning that Germany and Italy have much different aviation agreements with the United States than France or Italy."The latest round of merger discussions is a further indication that the industry is now not only easing access to the markets, but also questioning the need for national ownership of airlines," said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, vice-president international affairs for Lufthansa.Europe also looking to encourage start-up carriersEuropean regulators have their own concerns about opening the way for low-cost start-up operators to compete against the former state-owned carriers.But Europe's regulatory authorities are in a state of flux following the departure last year of competition commissioner Karel van Miert and his transport counterpart Neil Kinnock, according to officials at the Brus...
