국제항공법상 전략적 제휴의 개념 및 미국법상 항공 전략적 제휴에 대한 독점규제법 적용의 면제 관한 연구

Although no explicit definition and delineation exists for airline alliances in international aviation law, airline alliances are generally classified into the following three categories. Depending on the degree of cooperation, alliances can be (i) merger-like integration, (ii) expanded cooperation to develop joint network or (iii) limited cooperation on specific routes. Since expanded cooperation to develop joint network or limited cooperation on specific routes exhibit lesser degree of cooperation and relatively less likely to violate competition laws, granting antitrust immunity is not significantly problematic for these categories in each State. However, in the case of merger-like integration, since the violation of competition laws is more likely, whether each State grants antitrust immunity to such type of airline alliances became an issue. In the United States, the Department of Transportation has the sole authority to grant antitrust immunity to airline alliances. The Department of Transportation considers whether a foreign alliance partner’s government has signed an Open Skies Agreement with the United States as a condition for antitrust immunity. In the Republic of Korea the authority for granting antitrust immunity is vested in both, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korean Fair Trade Commission. Nevertheless, there is a need to change the policy for the Republic of Korea to grant the sole authority to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the development of airline industry and global alliances.