The Open Skies agreements, which provide competition for the big three (old) air carriers — American, Delta, and United Air Lines — might be under fire by special interest groups; but not by the general public. Young consumers want safe, inexpensive travel, and these agreements help to keep costs down for young travelers who don’t have much cash.
According to the U.S. State Department:
The logical opponent to these agreements are that labor unions and the big three airlines (American, Delta and United) lessen competition. The Air Line Pilots Association is currently pushing for the Trump Administration to undo these agreements under the guise that it will help American workers. It may help a small limited group of American pilots who work for the big three airlines, but if these agreements were to be torn up then all of the workers at travel destination cities and resorts will be hurt. They are Americans too, but not represented by a powerful union.
In a piece by the Daily Caller‘s Tim Canoll, the President of the Airline Pilots Association argues for protectionism against competition:
The problem with this argument is that it is not true. It could be called ‘#FakeNews.’ The Big Three and the airline employee lobbying teams want to use any argument to break these agreements. The U.S. government has not found violations of Open Skies agreements by the Gulf Airlines. Airlines outside of the Big Three, hotels, travel destinations and restaurants are not on board with this protectionism. Young people need choice and free markets to keep prices down.
According to U.S. Travel, “In 2014, thanks to our Open Skies agreements with Qatar and the U.A.E., the Gulf carriers brought 1.1 million international visitors to U.S. markets. Those visitors contributed more than $4.1 billion to the nation’s GDP, supported nearly 50,000 American jobs and generated $1.1 billion in crucial federal, state and local tax revenue.” Those sound like good numbers and something that the Trump Administration would want to encourage.
Maybe we need even more open skies and less government regulation of routes. Air travel is already really expensive because of some heavy taxes levied on travelers. This might be a good time for Congress to consider tax cuts for air travel and an expansion of open skies agreements when working on legislation intended on stimulating the economy.
Young people want travel that is less expensive, safe and not a big hassle. Right now, it is not all that great, but it can be if the government will get out of the way of competition that will lead to free markets and lower prices.
