A Special Weekly Report From The Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau
ALL FLIGHTS are local in a political debate over new U.S.-London routes.</br></br>Lawmakers vie for Heathrow Airport routes suggested for six U.S. carriers by the General Accounting Office under the proposed American Airlines-British Airways alliance. Ohio Sen. DeWine's office complains Cleveland is excluded. New Jersey Sen. Torricelli wants more flights from Newark. "My concern is places like Portland," says Oregon Sen. Wyden.</br></br>The GAO plan "appears to be an effort to appease" the deal's foes, "and it may," says Ben Hirst of Northwest Airlines. The GAO allocates a Charlotte, N.C., route sought by South Carolina Sen. Hollings. Transportation Department officials gripe that the GAO undermines U.S. negotiations with the British by listing only 23 new round trips to London; the agency seeks 31.</br></br>A year after announcing the proposed alliance, what grade would American Airlines Chief Robert Crandall give DOT for its negotiations? "An `F'," he says.</br></br>TODAY'S JOBLESS REPORT will be a key to Fed rate-rise thinking.