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Posted on 03/27/2007 9:07:24 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
The Open Skies agreement between America and Europe has been hailed by airlines that see expansion opportunites outside their home continent. But airline unions see a threat to jobs.
"Airlines need greater commercial freedom to run their businesses as real businesses," said Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association.
The Bush administration said Open Skies will create jobs, and United Airlines hailed the agreement, seeing expansion opportunity in Europe.
Greg Davidowitch, president of the United Airlines master executive committee of the Association of Flight Attendants, disagrees.
"These benefits are ambiguous, tenuous and will be short-lived at best," he said in a message to members.
Davidowitch argues that the more likely result will be fresh erosion of airline industry jobs, wages and benefits, at a time when airline workers have already endured "life-altering sacrifice" in contract givebacks
All the major airline unions feel that way: pilot, machinist, flight attendant and baggage handler unions were all able to agree on a joint statement saying "this agreement is not in the best interests of U.S. aviation workers or our economy."
The unions said complex negotiations with deep implications for American workers were undertaken without adequate consultation with stakeholders. The AFL-CIO said it would speak out against Open Skies to members of Congress.
It won't take very long to see whether Washington or the unions are right about the result of opening U.S. markets: the U.S. Department of Transportation said last week it is inclined to reconsider its rejection of an application by Richard Branson's Virgin America to enter the U.S. airline market. Branson plans a discount carrier on legacy routes.
American Airlines said last week it will no longer oppose Virgin America, which has been trying to operate U.S. flights since 2005. Continental Airlines, which also mounted a legal battle against Branson's new carrier, has been tacit on the subject for more than two months.
"An aggressive campaign to circumvent federal laws that limit the routes foreign-owned airlines may fly in the United States is threatening our jobs and our national security," the Association of Flight Attendants said on its national Web site over the weekend.
The flight attendants union predicted that if Virgin America is allowed to fly it will ignite a fierce new round of fare wars.
Not every U.S. air carrier is entirely happy about opening European markets to American carriers and vice versa. American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey told a J.P. Morgan transportation conference last week he is concerned about a move to increase flight slots at London Heathrow, where American is a dominant carrier.
British Airways has been opposed to the Open Skies agreement altogether, believing that Europe made a lot more concessions than America did.
Several airlinesalready have announced plans to take advantage of Open Skies: Aer Lingus, in a move that could bring more Irish tourists to Hawaii, wants to fly nonstop from Dublin to San Francisco. Continental Airlines, which flies to Hawaii from Houston, has applied to fly to Houston from London Heathrow. Northwest Airlines, which flies to Hawaii from Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, said it will increase its service from Europe.
Open Skies does not take effect for one year. In the meantime Hawaii tourism marketers have been concentrating on London and Frankfurt, which have the best air connections to U.S. Mainland airports where passengers can transfer to direct flights to Hawaii.
Screw AA!
For every union that crumbles I will do a dance then take a whiz on their grave.
ALL job agreements today screw the American worker and unions. Thanks to Kennedy and GWB
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
What about teacher's unions crumbling?
You may dance, but I'll fly!
"What about teacher's unions crumbling?"
I can think of no union more counterproductive to this country than teacher's unions.
It might be inevitable to have to deal with aerospace unions (both machinist and professional). What is a reasonable solution?
I have a friend who used to fly for United who would disagree with you. Vehemently. His pension fund turned to ashes a year before he was eligible to retire.
-ccm
BTW everyone was/is a player. But the Gargantuan's were those I described.
Anything that sticks a finger in they eye of the union face makes me smile.
My cousin, who is a flight attendant for a major US carrier on the Europe routes tells me that many AA FA's refuse to fly into Heathrow because of surly security officers who intentionally hassle US airline crews.
They are worried about a possible price war. Consumers want a price war.
More competition isn't likely to result in less choices for Americans, or a stifling of the US economy, it's likely to help the US economy. It may hurt the bottom line of some airlines, but it's not going to endanger our air transportation industry.
The unions are welcome to be upset, but our government should be doing what is good for the country, no just protecting the high wages of some unions at the expense of American consumers.
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