The airlines must pay the federal government an average of $4 a passenger for security screening, according to the Air Transport Association, which represents major carriers.

BB&T Insurance Services represents most major carriers in the United States, and offers a broad range of Commercial and Personal Insurance Products.

"It doesn't wash well anywhere," said George N. Tompkins, an American lawyer who represents Japan Air Lines and other foreign carriers.

The Regional Airline Association, representing small carriers, said it was not sure what the costs of the new rules would be and whether all the changes were cost-effective, but it said it supported the proposal.

Ed Donohue, a lawyer based in Washington who has represented wireless carriers in several cases, estimates that more than 500 cell tower disputes around the country have ended up in court.

The Air Carrier Association of America, which represents small carriers, complained that at the moment, small carriers have only 20 slots, while "many legacy carriers have that many slots in single markets."

Indeed, CTIA - the Wireless Association, the trade group that represents carriers and manufacturers, asserts that repeaters have sometimes caused temporary service disruptions for adjacent customers.

The growth of such partnerships was underscored when Delta Air Lines sponsored a meeting in New York last week for its current and pending partners - 21 of them, representing carriers from Austria to Brazil to China.

A spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents scheduled carriers, said the disruptions would be "very minimal."

Response From Carriers The Air Transport Association, which represents American carriers, said the requirements would "diminish safety and service for air travelers and impose an unacceptable economic burden on the airlines and all their customers."