U.S. accelerates quest for "open skies" accords
By Staff -- Logistics Management, 3/1/2000
For the past three years, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater has carried the banner of "open skies" agreements into aviation negotiations around the world. Since last year, Slater has stepped up his efforts to liberalize global aviation markets."Open skies" treaties allow airlines of participating countries to serve each other's markets without restrictions on how often they fly, which aircraft they use, or what prices they charge. In general, such agreements result in lower airfares and freight rates while boosting the availability of service.
The Clinton administration sees open skies treaties as being critical to generating global economic growth, Slater said at a recent aviation industry meeting. "President Clinton said that to realize the full possibilities of this economy, we must reach beyond our borders," he noted. "It is our hope that the nations of the world will move on the issue of worldwide aviation liberalization and establish a true international aviation network capable of fully supporting the global economy."
Slater has been aggressively pursuing open skies agreements not just with major U.S. trading partners but also with smaller Third World countries. To date, the United States has concluded 42 such agreements. (See sidebar for a list of the signatories.)
In December, Slater hosted an aviation conference in Chicago that attracted government and industry delegates from 93 countries. At that conference, delegates from countries that already participate in open skies agreements agreed to work toward further liberalization of their aviation accords.
Although U.S. efforts to promote aviation competition have been eagerly welcomed in some quarters, negotiators have failed to break a longstanding impasse with the United Kingdom. The United States has been seeking an open skies agreement with the U.K. for more than four years. During talks in January, British negotiators reportedly put forth proposals that the United States had earlier rejected. The reasons for the United Kingdom's recalcitrance are many, but one factor is this country's failure to approve a proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines. Industry observers say U.K. negotiators won't budge until that issue is resolved in their favor.
The collapse of yet another round of U.S.-U.K. aviation talks brought criticism from Slater, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.), and the committee's ranking Democrat, James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.). In a letter to Slater, Shuster and Oberstar accused the British government of protecting British Airways' "near monopoly" at London Heathrow Airport. They urged him to resolve the issue quickly and suggested four punitive actions the U.S. government could take:
- Revoke all slots and slot exemptions held by British carriers at slot-restricted airports in the United States;
- Prohibit British airlines from operating the Concorde in the United States;
- Rescind current exemptions or permits, thus prohibiting British carriers from flying to the United States; and
- Renounce the current Bermuda II treaty that governs U.S.-U.K. air service.
The House transportation committee also held hearings on this issue last month.
42 and counting...
Since 1992, the United States has signed "open skies" agreements, which greatly reduce restrictions on air services between signatory countries, with the following 42 nations:
Netherlands
Switzerland
Sweden
Norway
Luxembourg
Iceland
Finland
Denmark
Belgium
Austria
Czech
Republic
Germany
Jordan
Singapore
Brunei
Taiwan
Panama
Guatemala
El Salvador
Honduras
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
New Zealand
Malaysia
Aruba
Chile
Romania
Netherlands
Antilles
Canada
France
Korea
Peru
Mexico
Pakistan
Chile
Tanzania
Dominican
Republic
Portugal
Argentina
Italy
Australia
Namibia
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