Several top executives of Northwest Airlines on July 17 expressed support for Washington's demand for "open skies," or the full liberalization of the trans-Pacific civil aviation market.

During a news conference held in Tokyo to mark Northwest's 50th year of flight service in Japan, John Dasburg, Northwest's president and chief executive officer, and Ben Hurst, senior vice president of governmental affairs, stressed that the open skies policy must be carried out to ensure lower prices for Japanese consumers and make it possible for Japanese airlines to form alliances with other international carriers. Japanese officials want more access to U.S. markets in return for increased liberalization.

However, the Northwest officials said Japanese airlines would be more competitive in U.S. markets if the Transport Ministry loosened its restrictions to enable the carriers to make alliances. "Through open skies, Japanese airlines can penetrate the U.S. market through alliances, which is really the only plausible way," Hurst said.