Transatlantic carrier ties being probed

The European Commission said on Friday it had begun an antitrust investigation into a transatlantic joint venture between Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines Inc. "The goal is to ensure that this tie-up does not harm passengers on EU-US routes," the Commission said in a statement, adding that it would consider the implications of the joint venture. Agreements between the airlines cover coordinated transatlantic operations in terms of capacity, schedules, pricing and revenues. "The parties also share profits and losses of their transatlantic flights," said the Commission, which acts as competition regulator for the European Union. The Commission also said it was closing separate formal antitrust proceedings between several members of the SkyTeam airlines alliance.