OTHER NEWS - Aug. 12, 1994

Airlines Probed Over Commissions: The government is investigating major U.S. airlines to determine whether they unfairly dominate their hub airports by paying inflated commissions to travel agents. The Justice Department this spring sought information from the industry’s top airlines as part of an antitrust probe into the payment of “override commissions,” or incentives paid to travel agents for exceeding certain sales goals. People in the industry say the probe is focusing on the use of the commissions in USAir hub cities Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C., and Northwest Airlines hub cities Detroit and Minneapolis. The agency is seeking information from United Airlines, American, Delta, Northwest, Continental, USAir, Trans World Airlines and Southwest.