Of the $16.8 billion in revenue from international operations by American carriers in 1990, 44 percent came from the trans-Atlantic market.

But with so much new cable being laid, he said, "we'll see the same kind of prices collapse like they had in the trans-Atlantic market."

The goal is to snare bigger shares of the lucrative trans-Atlantic market, on the assumption that that market will resume robust growth eventually.

Two more high-end carriers are about to join the increasingly crowded business-class-only trans-Atlantic market.

Today, the saturated trans-Atlantic market has far too many empty seats and below-cost fares.

Over time, those airlines outside the consortiums will withdraw from routes on which they cannot compete, as has already happened in some trans-Atlantic markets.

As precedent, Boeing cites what happened in the trans-Atlantic market in the last 20 years.

The White Star Line's first four steamships met with great success in the trans-Atlantic market, and the line decided to build two more.

A smaller number of slaves went south for the trans-Atlantic market.

Here, too, there is a window of opportunity, as it will take time to build up the trans-Atlantic market, because it is a complex process.