AIRLINES

USAir Applies to Fly to Heathrow Airport: USAir Inc., seeking to blunt the competitive impact of a proposed alliance between American Airlines Inc. and British Airways, has asked the Transportation Department for the right to fly to London’s Heathrow Airport from four U.S. cities as part of any “open skies” agreement with the British government. The U.S. and British governments are negotiating an open-skies pact to allow each country’s airlines greater access to the other country. In its application, Arlington, Va.-based USAir asked for rights to fly to Heathrow from Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Philadelphia; and Pittsburgh. To make room at Heathrow, USAir suggested that the governments take away some of the current access rights held by American Airlines. Last month, USAir filed suit against British Airways in an effort to break up their own three-year alliance. Both British Airways and American praised USAir for supporting an open-skies agreement.