De drie grote luchtvaartmaatschappijen uit de VS proberen voor elkaar te krijgen dat de Open Skies-overeenkomst wordt ingeperkt. Het doel is dat de grote maatschappijen uit het Midden-Oosten minder naar de VS mogen gaan vliegen. Niet iedereen in de VS is voor protectionistische maatregelen. Enkele persberichten en brieven aan de regering op een rijtje.
FedEx
“Recently, several US passenger carriers have questioned Open Skies, specifically as it relates to Middle Eastern carriers. These US passenger carriers do not fly extensively between foreign points like FedEx does. They believe they have little to risk by limiting foreign carrier access to US markets. What they want is for the US government to protect them from competition from able, attractive new entrants.
For FedEx, the Open Skies agreements with the Middle Eastern countries are very valuable. Under the agreement with the UAE, we have established a hub in Dubai, where FedEx flights from the US criss-cross with our flights from India and Asia in order to move US products into local markets. This hub also acts as our gateway into Africa. Presently FedEx alone operates almost two-thirds more flights to the Middle East than all the US passenger carriers combined. Modifications to this agreement might spell the end of these opportunities, closing off those markets to our customers.”
US Travel Association
“The Big Three U.S. airlines have constructed themselves an enormous glass house, and their amnesia about their own subsidies has now cost them the credibility of their own core argument for breaking Open Skies agreements. I give all credit to our friends at the Business Travel Coalition for discovering this pivotal bit of evidence (that U.S. airlines received $155 billion in federal subsidies between 1918 and 1998) that completely alters the landscape of this debate.This exposes the fiction that the U.S. airline cartel’s furious and expensive assault on Open Skies is about subsidies.
We hope this prompts policymakers and the public to ask: OK, what’s really motivating the campaign to break these agreements? We hope there is something else to dissuade us from by far the most likely conclusion: the Big Three airlines hate competition, and rather than cope with it in the marketplace they will undertake extreme means to stamp it out politically.“We have long known that the subsidy argument for breaking Open Skies agreements was thin if not downright foolhardy, and now we have strong evidence of that from an unbiased source, the Congressional Research Service.
This development, coupled with the inarguable harm rolling back Open Skies would inflict upon American travelers, economic productivity and job creation, should end any discussion over selectively abrogating the agreements. But the Big Three airlines have shown a lot of determination and resources, so we’re resigned to the fact they’ll keep this up, and we’re curious to see what their next whopper is going to be.”
World Travel & Tourism Council
“Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to world gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in 2014 was US$2.4 trillion (2014 prices) and 105 million jobs respectively. Taking its wider impacts into account, Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to the global economy in 2014 was US$7.6 trillion (2014 prices), which equates to 9.8% of total economy GDP in 2014…
We expect Travel & Tourism in 2015 to generate in the region of 7.2 million new jobs in total, with 2.1 million new jobs directly created within the sector. This represents growth rates of 2.6% and 2.0% respectively.
Lower oil prices will benefit net oil importing economies and this is already being felt through falling inflation which is boosting real disposable incomes and consumer purchasing power. India and the UK’s GDP growth forecasts for 2015 have been upgraded, while the US economy is expected to pick up with GDP growth of 3.3% in 2015. On the downside for the US, its economic strength will also be reflected in the strength of the US dollar, which is forecast to appreciate against all major currencies including the yen, euro and sterling. This will lead to slower growth in US visitor exports and faster growth in outbound spending in 2015, with Mexico, Canada and other major US outbound travel destinations set to benefit.”
