By Susan Carey
A long-running attempt by the three largest U.S. passenger
airlines to persuade their government to limit access to U.S. air
routes by three big Persian Gulf airlines received more pushback
Monday when four opposing U.S. carriers warned that rolling back
liberal air treaties would cause economic damage and possibly
retaliation.
Executives from FedEx Corp.'s FedEx Express delivery unit, Atlas
Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and Hawaiian
Holdings Inc.'s Hawaiian Airlines said that they have formed a
group called U.S. Airlines for Open Skies to underscore their
opposition to the position taken by American Airlines Group Inc.,
United Continental Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.
The three big U.S. passenger carriers in January asked the U.S.
government to renegotiate air treaties with the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar because three state-owned airlines in those two
nations allegedly have received more than $40 billion in government
subsidies since 2004. The U.S. trio claims this backing has allowed
Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways to distort
global trade by expanding quickly without having to worry about
turning a profit.
The U.S. Departments of Transportation, State and Commerce said
they would listen to the three big U.S. airlines and opened
regulatory dockets where all variety of parties could file
information. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar have denounced the U.S.
carriers' claims, denied they are subsidized and filed rebuttals on
the U.S. dockets.
A number of other groups in the U.S. also filed their opposition
to the stance of American, United and Delta, including trade
associations representing U.S. tourism interests, aerospace
industries and individual carrriers such as Alaska Air Group Inc.'s
Alaska Airlines.
Previously, all four airlines in the new coalition individually
filed their objections on the docket. But now, the three U.S.
agencies are requesting that further submissions be made to the
docket by the end of Monday, and that any additional materials
commenting on submissions by made by Aug. 24.
A person familiar with the U.S. government's position said prior
submissions are being reviewed and considered, but no decisions
have been made.
FedEx, Atlas, JetBlue and Hawaii on Monday submitted a letter to
the secretaries of three federal agencies explaining that the big
three U.S. carriers don't speak for all or even most U.S. airlines.
The four, in their letter, also said there would be extensive harm
to U.S. consumers and the U.S. economy if the government were to
agree to renegotiate the liberal air treaties with the U.A.E. and
Qatar.
More to follow...
Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com
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