Faced with a competitive marketplace, I believe they will show the same drive to cut costs and upgrade service for which many Japanese manufacturing firms are rightly famous. My view is that the most serious impediments to competition are existing government regulation and restraints on entry. Open skies will bring more vigorous competition in pricing and proliferation of upstart airlines. The vast majority of likely cooperative arrangements and alliances will serve the public interest by creating more efficient operations. However, if an alliance would threaten to increase market concentration to the point where prices could be raised or quality of service decreased, the Clinton Administration would not hesitate to enforce our antitrust statutes to ensure fair competition for all.
Japan can do the same.
Under Open Skies, Japan's carriers will be free to establish any service they wish. ANA, for example, will be able to realize its plan to establish a full international schedule of flights to various U.S. destinations, including Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. Companies such as Japan Air System and NCA, which now have little or no access to the U.S. market, will be able to establish service to any U.S. destination. All Japanese carriers will have the opportunity to forge strategic alliances and to code share with U.S. carriers. For example, with Open Skies, JAL and ANA will be able to code share with a U.S. carrier, coordinate schedules at the U.S. carrier's hub, and draw traffic from all over America across the Pacific to Japan and on throughout Asia.