Free Republic

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed to the Kremlin that the U.S. and the USSR each be permitted to conduct aerial reconnaissance of the other’s territory and collect data on each other’s military forces and activities to enhance confidence that neither was planning a surprise attack. Moscow refused, calling it a license for American spying. Intensification of the Cold War made the issue dormant until President George H.W. Bush revived it in 1999 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The “Open Skies Treaty” was signed and ratified in 2002 and now has 34 members. According to the Arms...

Trump had a very good week, pressuring states to reopen, threatening to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty with Russia, ending all funding to the World Health Organization, and launching another round of deregulation. Trump won a big battle in the Supreme Court when it denied Congress the right to examine secret grand jury testimony from the Mueller “Russia collusion” investigation. The Democrats said they needed it to try to impeach Trump — again. Withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty (because the Russians are denying flights over Kaliningrad and Chechnya) is a positive step, as is Trump’s refusal to enter...

President Trump will be pulling the United States out of the Open Skies Treaty, an agreement between more than 30 countries that allow for those involved to fly in each other’s air spaces, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News. The New York Times first reported that Trump was planning to withdraw from the agreement, worrying NATO member nations who are concerned that once the U.S. is out, Russia will block their flights, which provide valuable surveillance of their own borders. U.S. officials have warned that Russia had been violating the treaty already by not allowing flights over areas...

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a document signaling his administration's intent to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, the latest in a series of major arms control and disarmament accords that are on the verge of collapse. Signed by 34 nations, including Russia, the treaty aims to increase international stability by allowing signatory nations to conduct surveillance flights over one another’s territories, to observe military installations and other areas. Some U.S. lawmakers and military officials have voiced allegations that Russia was conducting overflights of U.S. territory using advanced camera technology that were...

In 1987, then-real estate mogul Donald Trump laid out the strategies and wisdom that built him one of America’s largest real estate empires in his book The Art of the Deal. Now, as President of the United States, Donald Trump has been using those same tactics to deliver real results for the American people, and it’s time he gets some credit for his work.The first people in line to thank him should be America’s air travelers, as we’re approaching the one-year anniversary of the Trump administration’s decision to protect America’s Open Skies agreements with some of our key global partners....

Sen. Tom Cotton says that the Trump administration should unilaterally withdraw the United States from its “Open Skies” treaty, which governs how each country conducts aerial surveillance regarding military activities and forces as a means of assurance. Entered into force on 1 January 2002, the treaty has 34 signatories, but the Arkansas Republican says that it is favoring Russia to the detriment of the United States.

Leading Republicans appealed to President Obama this week to reject Russia’s request to fly surveillance planes with high-powered digital cameras during overflights, warning that the new technology would enable the Kremlin to collect intelligence more effectively. Russia’s failure to comply with some provisions of the Open Skies Treaty, which allows member countries to conduct unarmed aerial observation flights over one another, should preclude Vladimir Putin from using planes with high-tech sensors for the overflights, Reps. Ed Royce (Calif.), Mac Thornberry (Texas), and Devin Nunes (Calif.), all of whom are committee chairs, wrote in a letter to the president. “Given the...

I am a libertarianish conservative who proudly voted for Donald J. Trump for President. I, like most Americans, hate flying because of the hassle when you go through invasive TSA screening and do not like the fact that most airlines treat people like passengers on a crappy bus service. Our nationÂ’s big airlines have failed us, and they nickel and dime flyers when we want to bring an extra bag or want to make a last-minute change to a flight. In short, flying is not fun, and both the government and airlines have made it worse. One reason is the...

An unarmed Russian Air Force reconnaissance jet flew over several government buildings and landmarks in the nation's capital Wednesday, including the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol, National Mall and the White House, ABC News has confirmed. The flight over what is normally some of the most secure airspace in the nation was allowed under the Treaty of Open Skies that allows ....

A United States 'spy plane' has made an emergency landing in eastern Russia, it has emerged today. The surveillance Boeing OC-135B aircraft was flying a mission over Siberia as allowed under the Treaty on Open Skies when it reported a problem with its landing gear. The unarmed plane made an emergency landing at Khabarovsk airport, but a military source in Russia has questioned whether the technical glitch was genuine.

Here at the world's busiest airport -- with seven concourses and more than 200 gates -- a gate for the Super Jumbo Airbus A380 could not be provided. That forced Qatar Airways passengers to deplane Wednesday via mobile stairs and shuttle buses. Atlanta's airport has only one gate that can accommodate the A380 -- the world's largest airliner. The airport and resident hub carrier Delta Air Lines said they could not make that gate available. The very public battle between Delta Air Lines, the world's second largest airline, and competitor Qatar Airways represents a microcosm of the national debate over...

[NEW YORK] Qatar Airways on Monday said it plans to expand its services to the United States, in a move that rankled US airlines which accuse it of competing unfairly through state subsidies. The Gulf carrier announced its first direct flights to Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta from its Doha hub and its second daily flight to New York.

Russian Spy Planes in U.S. Skies By Eli Lake 12 hours ago The Daily Beast The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military and American intelligence agencies have quietly pushed the White House in recent weeks to deny a new Russian surveillance plane the right to fly over U.S. territory. This week, the White House finally began consideration of the decision whether to certify the new Russian aircraft under the so-called “Open Skies Treaty.” And now the question becomes: Will the spies and generals get their way? As the United States and Russia face off publicly over Ukraine, behind...

The U.S. airliner Boeing, which had made observation flights over Russia under the Treaty of Open Skies, has made an unscheduled landing in the city of Chita, East Siberia, on Wednesday, and will leave the air harbour of the Siberian city at 14:30 local time (08:30 Moscow time, 04:30 GMT) on Friday. The directorate of the airport permitted the departure, receiving the money for the fuel, representative of the airport’s directorate Sergei Kostin told Itar-Tass. "Finally, the money for the lubricants and fuels were transferred to us. The airport fees will be earmarked soon. The fuelling of the airliner Boeing...

Some two months after Israeli airlines went on a brief strike to block the Israeli-EU “Open Skies” agreement, the two sides inked the accord in Luxembourg on Monday, paving the way for more direct flights between Israel and EU countries. The European Union issued a statement saying that the deal was signed on the sidelines of the EU Transport Council meeting. … When the agreement comes into effect in 2018, EU airlines will be able to operate direct flights to Israel from anywhere in the EU, and Israeli carriers will be able to operate flights to airports throughout the EU....

Histadrut Labor Federation has announced Sunday the Airport Authority will launch a strike action on Tuesday to demonstrate solidarity with airline workers who are protesting the government’s decision to approve the “open skies” agreement. During the strike, the Ben Gurion Airport will be entirely shut down for a number of hours, starting 5 am. According to the announcement, no services will be provided to foreign airlines during the strike. … Earlier Sunday, the cabinet approved the “open skies” agreement with a 16 to 3 majority, while striking airline employees protested in front of the building, clashing with security forces. The...

A new plan being discussed among officials from the United States, Mexico and Canada essentially would erase national borders in North America for air carriers, perhaps giving Aeromexico a pass to run a Los Angeles-Toronto route or Air Canada to compete on the New York-Paris connection, according to WND columnist Jerome Corsi. He reported on a meeting held in Tucson, Ariz., involving U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and her Mexican and Canadian counterparts. She's already under fire, as WND has reported, for continuing work on a program that could start as early as July 15 to give Mexican truckers...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Two Mexican airlines wanting to reach a growing immigrant population in Arkansas and neighboring states may soon add direct flights to Little Rock. Aeromexico and Mexicana, two of Mexico's largest airlines, are in discussions to fly in and out of Little Rock National Airport, said airport spokesman Philip Launius. The hope, Launius said, is that the airport would be the central hub for travel to Mexico from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. 'One of the Japanese steel company executives described Arkansas as being the navel of NAFTA,' Launius said, referring to the North American Free Trade...

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington. The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonising regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market. The two sides also signed an Open Skies deal, designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights. But little of substance was agreed on climate change. However, EU leaders were pleased that the US acknowledged human activity was a major cause. Richest regions Economics rather than the environment or politics was the focus of the summit,...

The United States hopes to formalize an agreement with China to increase air travel between the nations. BEIJING -- (AP) -- The United States is discussing a deal with China to liberalize air travel and hopes for a framework ''open skies'' agreement by May, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday. Washington hopes to produce a formal agreement by the end of this year, said Peters, who was in Beijing to discuss the possible agreement with Chinese officials. ''We want to at least have the basic framework in place by May,'' Peters said. The number of airline flights between...