Delta, American, United urge Trump to halt Middle East airline cheats
Three huge U.S. airlines are pressing President Trump to stop state-owned, Middle Eastern airlines from cheating on a fair trade agreement that they say could cost 300,000 American jobs.
The heads of Delta, American and United airlines charge that three state-subsidized competitors, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates, have subsidized rates so low that few U.S. companies are flying in the region anymore.
In a digital video advancing their complaints and posted Tuesday, the Partnership for Open and Fair Skies complained, "Rigged trade deals destroy American jobs."
The group claims that 300,000 American jobs are at risk due to the subsidies they discovered from Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The countries are part of the Open Skies community of 120 countries but continue to violate restrictions on subsidies, they said.
Similar complaints were lodged with the Obama administration but nothing happened.
Trump has promised to tear up trade deals that cost American jobs. Airline officials will meet with Trump to discuss several issues on Thursday.
Just last week, the airline chiefs penned a letter to new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, charging that the three foreign carriers have received $50 billion in subsidies that undermine Open Skies.
"The subsidies allow the Gulf carriers to operate without concern for turning a profit, unlike U.S. airlines, and therefore focus entirely on stripping market share and driving out competition. The subsidy-enabled capacity dumping by the Gulf carriers has nearly eliminated U.S. carrier service to the Middle East and India. If left unchecked we will continue to see the Gulf carriers expand in the U.S. market, causing further harm to hard working Americans. In fact, for every long-haul route lost or foregone as a result of subsidized Gulf carrier competition, more than 1,500 American jobs are lost," said their chairmen of the three U.S. airlines.
Reporters fall for fake, racist Trump campaign ads
This particular media feeding frenzy was set off by longtime Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal.
Meanwhile, two pilots groups are reviving their call for action against another potential jobs-killing violation of Open Skies.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association and the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots said in a statement today that in the last days of the Obama administration, a foreign carrier permit was issued to Norwegian Airlines International—a Dublin-based subsidiary.
They claim that it was based in Dublin to avoid tax and labor laws and could cost U.S. jobs.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com
Media overhype yet another hoax, rush to connect it to Trump, Republicans
This story is about someone acting alone, despite attempts by some journos to make it into a bigger thing.
Report: 72 convicted of terrorism from 'Trump 7' mostly Muslim countries
Since 9/11, 72 individuals from the seven mostly Muslim countries covered by President Trump's "extreme vetting" executive order have been convicted of terrorism, a finding that clashes sharply with claims from an appeals court that there is "no evidence" those countries have produced a terrorist.
