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How fierce has the rivalry between two of the nation’s biggest air carriers gotten? So bad that United Airlines refused to show a film that included a scene shot in front of an American Airlines ticket counter on its flights unless the scene was cut.

It all started when United decided to buy 20th Century Fox’s “This Is My Life.” Apparently, though, airline officials were unhappy about a scene that takes place in Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport and features the ticket counter of its long-time rival, American Airlines, who had supplied the production with free air travel in exchange for on-screen product placement.

“I got a call from the studio saying that United Airlines wanted the scene taken out,” says producer Lynda Obst. “The scene in no way violates airline standards. Their objection is to the fact that you can see the American Airlines ticket counter in the background.”

In the scene, Julie Kavner, who plays a comedian, fights with her two daughter, who’ve just arrived to visit her in Las Vegas, about a joke that she made about them on a television talk show. Obst said it is crucial to the story. “It’s a scene that matters to the film,” she says. “One of our favorite jokes was cut. I begged for them to cut around the American Airlines signs, but they couldn’t. Nora and I protested it vigorously,” she says.

Fox did cut the film for United, and neither Obst nor director Nora Ephron are happy about it.

“United Airlines doesn’t even fly to that airport from New York,” she says, “so it’s not like we had a choice of them or American.”

Feature films are often cut before they’re shown on airline flights--for language or content. One notable example is a scene in which Dustin Hoffman’s character recites a number of airline crashes in “Rain Man”--before it was shown in-flight, the scene was cut. But sources said this was the first time they’d heard about a cut of this sort. “I suppose this means that in the future when we make a promotional deal with an airline, we better understand the implications,” Obst says.

And what does Ephron think about the situation? “I was flabbergasted by this,” she says. “I just think it’s disgusting.” As for what will happen to the film’s continuity, Ephron says, “I shudder to think.”

Fox’s VP of non-theatrical films, Harvey Applebaum, refused to comment on the situation.