Four U.S. Airlines Object to Complaints Against Persian Gulf Airlines

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...

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