Harper, Obama resolve charter flight dispute

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday the U.S. and Canada have reached a tentative deal to resolve a dispute over charter flights that threatens to disrupt the upcoming professional hockey and basketball seasons.

"We think we're very close to resolving that," Harper said after a meeting with President Barack Obama. "I think we have some kind of a tentative agreement in principle and we're working to finalize that in the next few days."

The U.S. Transportation Department has been insisting that Air Canada cancel all of its season-long sports charter flights.

The agency contends such charters violate U.S. law because they often involve travel between U.S. cities, rather than solely between Canada and the U.S.

The decision would make it difficult for Canadian teams to play back-to-back games in the U.S. with their current charter arrangement.

The NHL's regular season starts Oct. 1 and six of the 30 NHL teams are based in Canada.

The NBA regular season starts in late October.

Air Canada filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington last week seeking to prevent Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood from enforcing his department's decision.

The airline said the U.S. law does not apply to stopover traffic since stopovers, by definition, include an international segment.

Air Canada said in court papers that there was never any problem voiced about their charter flights until U.S. carriers complained.

The Air Transport Association, a trade group that represents U.S. airlines, asserted to the Transportation Department last year that Air Canada's charter flights between U.S. cities were unlawful.

Air Canada said it has a foreign air carrier permit issued by the U.S. that allows it to operate both scheduled and charter air service between any point or points in Canada and any point or points in the U.S.

The carrier has a unit called Jetz that provides business-class level charter service.

Jetz offers season-long charters for sports teams whose schedules require play in the U.S. and Canada.

Initially, Jetz clients were Canadian-based hockey teams, but it has since expanded its offering to U.S. teams in both hockey and basketball.

Air Canada said that's when opposition started.

The DOT's position on the charter flights has already had ramifications in baseball. Canada responded by enforcing the rule on its side of the border.

The Toronto Blue Jays recently changed the destination of one flight in one of their final road trips of the season to comply.

The Blue Jays fly with Miami Air International, a Florida company that also provides charter service to five U.S.-based NHL teams, including the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Unable to use an American carrier for a domestic flight in Canada, the Blue Jays changed their destination to Detroit and were granted approval.