U.S. airlines are hoping to bypass Congress, regulators and other high-level administration officials and take their Gulf Carrier subsidy argument directly to President Donald Trump.
Let’s start with the video. Take 30-seconds to watch this:
The video starts with President Trump promising, “We will stand up to trade cheating anywhere and everywhere it threatens the American job.”
Then, a narrator ominously warns:
Now, 1.2 million jobs and the U.S. airline industry are at risk because mideast carriers pump billions in illegal subsidies into their airlines.
I’m not going to rehash the argument again. Please see my previous article on Gulf Carrier subsidies to understand why this is such a disingenuous and misleading argument.
The narrator continues:
President Trump took action to stop the trade cheating, but Qatar continues to break the rules.
Translation: they’re mocking you Mr. President and the United States. Are you going to let that happen?
Hoping they will prevail, the ad thanks President Trump in advance.
Thank you President Trump. America’s airline workers are counting on you to enforce our trade agreements.
What This Ad Is Really About
This ad is about Air Italy, an airline that is not named in the commercial. Goliath U.S. airlines fear little David. Air Italy operates to four U.S. cities and will be reducing service this winter due to lower demand than expected. Even so, U.S. airlines have targeted Air Italy because the carrier offers an excellent product that is seen as more threatening than the long list of other state-subsidized carriers that are actually accepting state-backed subsidies.
> Read More: Qatar Airways Blasts U.S. Lawmakers For Air Italy Criticism
CONCLUSION
I have to give American, Delta, and United credit. They should play this ad a few times during Fox & Friends and it may well be the best advertising money ever spent.
But in terms of properly classifying the debate, it is just another misleading ad from the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.
There’s a reason comments are disabled on the YouTube video. Low rated YouTube video can’t stand the heat. SAD!
I don’t blame the US3 for not wanting viable competition. Otherwise, what was all of the overconsolidation about over the past decades? On the other hand, I do expect them to act like more-or-less adults, and they are certainly not doing that in this instance. They have zero facts, legal justification, or moral standing, so they make some childish attempt to bypass the entire governmental system to get what they want, which is less competition. This is a new low for the US3, which is really saying something. The only thing that could actually be worse is if they succeed.
So we’re just sticking to this belief system even though we have seen what has happened is exactly what the US airlines were complaining about? Now that the mideast carriers are pressured into financial transparency we see the gulf carriers cutting back all of the expensive perks and still losing massive amounts of money, and we’re still calling the subsidy complaints some kind of misinformation campaign? Even though the gulf carriers have 1 and only 1 source of capital, and it is an endless stream of capital with no covenants, no return on capital requirements or even a return OF capital requirement? Ever wonder why nobody ever starts a mail company to compete with the US Postal service? It is impossible for a private company funded with public money to compete against a government with taxing authority. It is no different than China flooding our markets with Steel or solar panels. If they can make strategic industries a money loser for everyone that invests capital, they can stifle our ability to keep up with them. We either need to match subsidies across the board or stop them by everyone, entirely.
You’re right, it should be equal across the board. I’d like to see the US3 have the brass to go b!tch about the Chinese dumping capacity on the USA and the US3 (AA in particular) chopping routes to Asia because of pricing pressure. Yet not a peep. Not one. You know why? Because it’s in vogue to pick on the “scary Arabs.” They’re pandering to bigotry and unfortunately in America that’s what gets people elected.
Well, we are in the late stages of a very large scale, high profile trade negotiation with China at the moment. It is my understanding that we are airing grievances ranging from IP theft, tariffs, non-tariff barriers, predatory pricing, dumping and subsidization across a wide range of products and industries. I would be very surprised if the US3 were not involved with the administration’s efforts to identify key concessions of importance to the aviation industry as part of these negotiations. I would suggest the silence you are perceiving is more about the negotiations not being concluded yet, rather than some inherent bigotry.
Truly impressive goalpost-moving. You should go referee for the NFL, they love blind people.
The goalpost moved because the topic changed from discussing the gulf carriers to discussing the Chinese carriers. They are different.
Why? What makes their subsidies any less “destructive” to American jobs?
Thank you! Their subsidies are equally as damaging yet the blind eye is turned because the American population is more amenable to bashing the M.E. than the Chinese. Again, bigotry is the angle, not common sense.
If Delta really cared about American jobs they wouldn’t own half of Airbus by now with the $$ they’ve spent.
@Matthew & @Nick
Sorry, I thought I had already answered this. Chinese subsidies aren’t any less destructive other than the order of magnitude most certainly being smaller than the ME3’s impact. My point was that you aren’t hearing the US3 scream bloody murder about China because it is being addressed in China trade talks and not finished yet. They screamed bloody murder over the ME3 because their concerns had been ignored for years. As far as why they began the crusade with the ME3 I think is obviously because they were the earliest, largest and most disruptive subsidizers in countries that the U.S. should have some ability to come to a rational agreement with given the security relationship. Makes sense to start with the theoretically easiest relationship with the bigger potential impact.
U.S. Airlines are sore losers.
Thank you! Their subsidies are equally as damaging yet the blind eye is turned because the American population is more amenable to bashing the M.E. than the Chinese. Again, bigotry is the angle, not common sense.
If Delta really cared about American jobs they wouldn’t own half of Airbus by now with the $$ they’ve spent.
Thank you! Their subsidies are equally as damaging yet the blind eye is turned because the American population is more amenable to bashing the M.E. than the Chinese. Again, bigotry is the angle, not common sense.
If Delta really cared about American jobs they wouldn’t own half of Airbus by now with the $$ they’ve spent.
@ Matthew — Such hypocrisy, especially from Delta
I actually don’t blame the US3. Why not take a page out of the Trump’s book? Telling over 10,000 lies over the past two years hasn’t stripped him of his job title. Why not caterwaul your way to a seat at the government-for-your-own-ends table? It’s certainly working for big telecom with a sniveling, corrupt yes-man heading the FCC, why not try it here?
And yes Matthew, this ad only needs to be played during Fox & Friends, Trump’s favorite TV program/”intelligence briefing”
This is what happens when a shyster steals the top office: every sleazebag in town is lining up with this creepy, hokey MAGA fakery. The terrifying thing is that it seems to work, as the bloated horror’s greatest weakness ( on a huge list) is susceptibility to faux flattery, and he sees merit in the most baseless claims, including ones like this. Roll on 2020 !
Airlines are political. In the 1960’s, American Airlines was Democratic and Continental Airlines was Republican. Routes awarded by the CAB took this into account.