What do Atlanta’s Democrat Mayor Kasim Reed, Georgia’s Republican House of Representatives Speaker David Ralston, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta and a host of local Chambers of Commerce and various community organizations have in common? They want to protect local airline jobs. This week these officials and groups kicked off a campaign urging federal lawmakers to open consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates due to their heavy subsidization of state-owned airlines Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways in violation of Federal Open Skies agreements. The group also is asking for a freeze on new flights to the United States operated by the three Persian Gulf carriers. “If unfair competition is permitted in contradiction to the current Open Skies policy, service to all U.S. communities will suffer as our domestic airlines are forced to reduce flights,” Atlanta’s mayor says. “If U.S. airlines are pushed off of international routes and lose market share to the government-owned Gulf airlines, it will mean American job losses.”
“Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the world’s busiest, serving more than 90 million passengers a year, many of those coming to do business or visit the Peach State,” said Julie Musselman, executive director of the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. “The airport is a crucial driver of our state’s economic growth and provides jobs for thousands of local residents. Those jobs are threatened by actions of the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which support their state airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline.”
A recent report identified $42 billion in government subsidies and unfair benefits the two countries provided the airlines in direct violation of this country’s Open Skies policy. According to the report, each domestic airline trip that is lost results in a net loss of over 800 U.S. aviation jobs.
[We] urge the U.S. government to take action to remedy unfair competitive practices that are hurting our state’s economy and threatening jobs here and across the country,” said Chris Clark, President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “Fair, market-driven competition is the foundation of our economy.”
“Atlanta Hartsfield International has a direct economic impact of more than about $32.5 billion on the Atlanta metro area,” Speaker Ralston says. “If Hartsfield and Delta suffer as a result of the massive subsidies being distributed to the Gulf carriers and their governments so, too, will the people and businesses in Georgia.”
The participating groups are all strong supporters of the Open Skies agreements, which are agreements between the United States and other countries that allow US airlines to fly to international cities and vice-versa.
