With as much bickering we can have on this site. This is something that should pull us all together as an American industry.
LoBiondo, labor fight new airline policy
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
By BILL CAHIR
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo and the nation's leading transportation unions are waging a fight with the Bush administration over a new regulation that would permit foreign investors to exercise greater control over airlines in the United States.
The AFL-CIO, the Air Line Pilots Association and LoBiondo object to a change in federal rules that would let foreign investors set air carriers' schedules, establish domestic fares and perhaps move jobs overseas.
LoBiondo, R-Margate, claims that corporate officers in abroad might be more inclined that their American counterparts to move U.S. air carriers' administrative jobs to Europe and mechanical jobs to Canada and Mexico.
"All the people who do scheduling, they don't need to be in Salt Lake City. They don't need to be in Newark. They can be in, you know, Dublin," worried Jason Galanes, a spokesman for LoBiondo.
The U.S. Transportation Department proposed to change its regulations for foreign ownership of U.S. airlines on Nov. 2.
The Bush administration still would require that two-thirds of the directors of any domestic airline be U.S. citizens. Likewise, airlines would be required to have U.S. citizens to control airlines' important legal papers: their corporate charters, articles of incorporation and stock agreements.
But foreign investors -- those in countries with Open Skies agreements with the United States -- would gain the power to set schedules and prices and set labor policies for domestic airlines.
Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta said the change would allow more foreign investment in U.S. carriers.
"As the nation's airlines continue to evolve to meet dramatic changes facing the industry, they need the same kind of flexibility to raise money that other businesses have," Mineta said in a statement.
LoBiondo is sponsoring a bill that would delay the Bush administration's changes to federal aviation regulations for one year. The bill would clarify that the changes to the aviation rules could be overturned by Congress.
Federal law prohibits foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. Only an airline under the "actual control" of American citizens can provide service between to U.S. cities.
The Bush administration's new aviation rules would change the definition of "actual control," allowing foreign investors to set domestic carriers' prices, schedules, fleet structure and marketing policies, according to the Air Line Pilots Association.
LoBiondo, labor fight new airline policy
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
By BILL CAHIR
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo and the nation's leading transportation unions are waging a fight with the Bush administration over a new regulation that would permit foreign investors to exercise greater control over airlines in the United States.
The AFL-CIO, the Air Line Pilots Association and LoBiondo object to a change in federal rules that would let foreign investors set air carriers' schedules, establish domestic fares and perhaps move jobs overseas.
LoBiondo, R-Margate, claims that corporate officers in abroad might be more inclined that their American counterparts to move U.S. air carriers' administrative jobs to Europe and mechanical jobs to Canada and Mexico.
"All the people who do scheduling, they don't need to be in Salt Lake City. They don't need to be in Newark. They can be in, you know, Dublin," worried Jason Galanes, a spokesman for LoBiondo.
The U.S. Transportation Department proposed to change its regulations for foreign ownership of U.S. airlines on Nov. 2.
The Bush administration still would require that two-thirds of the directors of any domestic airline be U.S. citizens. Likewise, airlines would be required to have U.S. citizens to control airlines' important legal papers: their corporate charters, articles of incorporation and stock agreements.
But foreign investors -- those in countries with Open Skies agreements with the United States -- would gain the power to set schedules and prices and set labor policies for domestic airlines.
Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta said the change would allow more foreign investment in U.S. carriers.
"As the nation's airlines continue to evolve to meet dramatic changes facing the industry, they need the same kind of flexibility to raise money that other businesses have," Mineta said in a statement.
LoBiondo is sponsoring a bill that would delay the Bush administration's changes to federal aviation regulations for one year. The bill would clarify that the changes to the aviation rules could be overturned by Congress.
Federal law prohibits foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. Only an airline under the "actual control" of American citizens can provide service between to U.S. cities.
The Bush administration's new aviation rules would change the definition of "actual control," allowing foreign investors to set domestic carriers' prices, schedules, fleet structure and marketing policies, according to the Air Line Pilots Association.
