Says U.S. Must Also Enforce Open Skies Agreements With UAE, Qatar

ALPA president Capt. Tim Canoll says the union supports the opening of proceedings at the World Trade Organization between the U.S. and China requesting consultations with China regarding tax exemptions for China’s domestic aircraft manufacturers that appear to provide an unfair economic advantage against international competitors.

“We applaud the U.S. government for standing up for fair competition in the global marketplace and for acting to ensure that U.S. international trade agreements are respected and enforced," Capt. Canoll said in a statement released to the media.
 
“ALPA calls on the U.S. government to take an equally strong stand for enforcing the Open Skies agreements that the United States has with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which require that U.S. airlines have a fair opportunity to compete in the marketplace. The UAE and Qatar are currently violating U.S. bilateral air service agreements by giving billions of dollars in government subsidies and other benefits to their state-owned airlines, harming the U.S. economy and threatening tens of thousands of U.S. airline jobs as a result.
 
“Just as the United States is doing with China’s alleged violations of international trade rules, the U.S. government must ensure that the UAE and Qatar abide by the terms of Open Skies agreements and safeguard fair competition in the global marketplace.”

(Source: ALPA news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.alpa.org