so the outgoing COO is pro-Palestinian too. hey, maybe he blames US support for Israel as the cause of 9-11. Let's call him before congress and ask him.
isn't this special. That will just give Chuck Schumer another talking point, while the administration twiddles its thumbs.
Foreign Ownership of US Airlines & Ports Deemed Troubling
Government/Diane M. GrassiFebruary 16, 2006 - The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) on February 8, 2005, presented its decision before the U.S. House of Representatives House Aviation Sub-Committee, to change a rule which would clear the way for foreign corporations to own and control U.S. airlines. But members of the House Aviation Sub-Committee were all in agreement that the DOT may lack the legal authority to unilaterally make such a change. Yet it does not begin to reveal all of the implications of such a historic shift in policy in bypassing the U.S. Congress in order to do so.
Trade negotiations with the European Union to loosen up regulations in ownership of U.S. airlines is seen as a tradeoff by the DOT in order for the U.S. to gain greater access to landing at London's Heathrow Airport, where presently only American Airlines and United Airlines have limited service there. Known as the Open Skies Agreement, lawmakers in both parties believe that this proposition transcends `free trade' or globalization as it becomes an issue which directly impacts labor and national security.
Currently, U.S. law requires that U.S. airlines must be under the "actual control" of U.S. citizens in order to be licensed for operation. And for corporations, 75% of the voting interest must be held by U.S. citizens and 66% of its board of directors and officers must also be U.S. citizens. But Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, in a statement in November 2005 said that the rule change would be an "historic opportunity to increase travel, reduce fares, expand commerce and bring two continents closer together than ever before. It provides new opportunities for U.S. and European airlines, healthier competition for a growing travel market and greater connection between cities and towns of all sizes on both sides of the Atlantic." ...
Surprisingly, the Department of Defense as well as the State Department have agreed with the DOT on this issue. But for several Congressmen, it does not pass muster and especially as concerns the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) which is used to transport U.S. troops including in times of war. The Open Skies Agreement would have to be redrafted to accommodate such. According to Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), "During the Gulf War a European Union member didn't supply us with a type of carrier we needed when we ran out because they didn't support the war."
Should the Congress fail to create legislation to block the proposed rule it would take effect, even though most U.S. airlines with the exception of cargo carriers, FEDEX and UPS as well as United Airlines, having recently reemerged from bankruptcy, are opposed to it. ...
[paranoid rumblings relating to Dubai deal snipped]