Northwest seeks U.S. help

Northwest seeks U.S. help

WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S. authorities are weighing a request for retaliation against Japan filed by Northwest Airlines after Tokyo failed to approve its service to Indonesia from a Japanese airport, transportation officials said.

A Transportation Department official said Northwest on Wednesday asked that Japan Airlines be stripped of its authorization to fly twice a week to Sao Paulo, Brazil via Los Angeles.

The complaint followed the breakdown of U.S.-Japan aviation talks here last Friday, during which Japan withheld approval of Northwest's request to fly on to the Indonesian capital Jakarta from Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan.

While Northwest, which had hoped to begin service July 1, had asked for U.S. intervention by Friday, the department decided to give interested parties until next Thursday a chance to "comment" on the complaint.

After that, according to a U.S. transportation official, the department could decide to issue a "show cause" order, asking the parties to explain why the sanctions should not be approved by a particular date.