December 12, 2017
For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrea Christianson; achristianson@hamiltonps.com; (202) 617-3888

Statement on State Department Meeting

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Airlines for Open Skies Coalition today issued the following statement after the State Department met with representatives from U.S. airlines and industry stakeholders on America’s Open Skies agreements with the U.A.E. and Qatar:

“The legacy carriers are still unable to show harm, still cannot point to a specific violation of the agreements, and still refuse to go through the established 180-day review that would provide an independent, government assessment of their claims. We are confident further investigation by the Trump administration will show the claims for what they are: a political ploy to protect themselves from competition and limit choice for U.S. travelers.”

Newly released data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows the U.S. airline industry has exceeded a headcount of 700,000 for the first time since September 2001.

U.S. Airlines for Open Skies (USAOS) is a coalition of four U.S. passenger and cargo carriers – Atlas Air Worldwide, FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines, and JetBlue Airways – in support of the United States’ Open Skies agreements, which promote U.S. jobs and economic growth.