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Md. Woman's Al-Qaida Claims Delay Newark-India Air Route

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

A proposed route connecting Newark and Mumbai has been delayed amid a trademark dispute and strident accusations by a Maryland businesswoman that the route's would-be operator, India's Jet Airways, Ltd., has links to al-Qaida.

Nancy Heckerman, the chief executive of Bethesda, Md.-based Jet Airways Inc., said in an objection filed last month with federal regulators that the Mumbai-based airline infringes on the trademarked name of her company, which does not fly at this time but intends to in the future. Heckerman also says the Indian company took funding in the early 1990s from a notorious underworld figure, Dawood Ibrahim, and that the airline "is still an enterprise used to launder money for Al Qaeda."

Heckerman, who could not be reached for this article, attached articles from Asian media outlets to back up her claims.

In response, India's Jet Airways, which is one of India's top domestic carriers, said Heckerman's company is just a shell with no planes to fly. And the Indian carrier announced it hired a U.S. law firm - Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison - to take legal action against Heckerman for making what it called "scandalous, scurrilous and baseless allegations."

The proposed new route between Mumbai and Newark, with a stop in Brussels, was originally set to begin on June 23, and it would have been the first of several new flights between India and the United States made possible by an open skies pact earlier this year by the two countries.

It is now unclear if or when the flights to Newark might begin.

George Carneal, a lawyer for the Indian company, said in a telephone interview that no new date has been set. The airline is still waiting for approvals from the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration, he said.

He also characterized the delay as routine. "Even if it had not been for the trademark issues, we would still be where we are today," Carneal said.

Bill Mosley, a DOT spokesman, said Monday he could not comment on the substance of the application, which is undergoing "normal review," he said.

"I wouldn't say it's been delayed," he said.

The Hindustan Times reported on July 5 that Heckerman "has managed to scuttle India carrier Jet's plans to fly to the United States."

The Indian airline said in filings with DOT that it still has to make lease payments on the Airbus 340s it planned to use on the Newark route, and the carrier said in a July 8 press release that it has leased an unspecified number of A340s to Air India, until July 27, "to utilize spare capacity."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark's airport, filed a letter with U.S. authorities in support of India's Jet Airways' request to fly into Newark. So did the India Terrorism Victims Relief Fund. The ITVRF disputed Heckerman's claims of al-Qaida and underworld ties, point by point.

"The new route will help foster economic, social and cultural ties between the United States and India and benefit consumers and businesses in the New York/Newark region in particular," wrote Bradley Rubinstein, the Port Authority's manager of industry and regulatory relations. The Port Authority noted the flight would increase competition on flights to Brussels and India.

The Port Authority did not comment in its letter on Heckerman's allegations.

"We understand [the Indian airline] has filed legal action against [Heckerman] and we'll let that speak for itself," a representative said on Monday.

Continental expects to begin flying from Newark to New Delhi in the fall; it would be the first non-stop route between the two countries.

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E-mail: newman@northjersey.com

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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