WASHINGTON, May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Americans for Fair Skies, a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to restoring fairness to Open Skies Agreements, applauds the action taken by the Dutch government to stop the expansion of subsidized Gulf airlines into the Netherlands[1] and thanks the Dutch government for their leadership, and calls on other governments, including the U.S., to take similar actions to ensure that foreign airline competition exists on a level playing field.

Since the revelation of the more than $42 billion in aviation subsidies coming out of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar a few months ago[2], three countries have taken action to stop these subsidies from further market distortion.

Germany and France have already frozen the allocation of new routes into their respective countries by the Gulf airlines[3] and have called upon the European Union Commission to institute new EU-level transport agreements with these countries that include “fair competition” clauses[4]. Recently, the Netherlands has joined them in imposing a freeze of new routes into their country until the subsidy distortions are addressed.

Says Americans for Fair Skies President, Captain Moak, “Like the French and the Germans, the Dutch have also seen the evidence that the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have supplied their airlines with more than $42 billions in subsidies, and they are supporting Dutch companies and the future viability of the international aviation market by saying “no” to unfair competition. Americans for Fair Skies has asked the U.S. Government to open consultations with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as called for in our Open Skies Agreements with both nations, and to freeze new routes from their subsidized carriers into the U.S. until these trade violations have been sorted out.”

Learn more and take action at fairskies.wpengine.com.

Press release can be found on: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-for-fair-skies-applauds-dutch-action-to-stop-gulf-subsidy-distortions-300086844.html?tc=eml_cleartime

[1] 5/20/2015- dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/05/dutch-government-stops-middle-eastern-airline-schiphol-expansion/

[2] 2/11/2015- reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-airlines-competition-exclusive-idUSKBN0LF01W20150211

[3] 3/19/2015 skift.com/2015/03/19/the-eu-is-coming-to-the-support-of-u-s-airlines-angry-about-gulf-carriers/

[4] 3/20/2015- aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/france-germany-protest-gulf-carrier-encroachment

By Lee Moak

Threats of (frivolous) lawsuits. Threats to cancel aircraft orders from Boeing, putting even more U.S. jobs at risk. Name-calling. Insults. More threats, in the form of retaliation by further market distortion and abuse of 5th Freedom routes. More insults, suited for a playground and not a business forum. More name-calling …

This has been the response by the leaders of Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad to the public evidence documenting the more than $42 billion in subsidies provided to their airlines by the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Rather than respond to the actual substance of the documented evidence of their subsidy violations of Open Skies, however, Akbar Al Baker of Qatar Airways, Tim Clark of Emirates, and James Hogan of Etihad have instead chosen to engage in threats and hurl insults and personal attacks in a desperate attempt to distract from the core issue at hand: subsidies that are violating U.S. trade agreements and jeopardizing U.S jobs.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar decided to undertake a dramatic expansion of their state-owned airlines as tool for economic growth in their nations. Fueled by billions in government aid, the three major Gulf airlines have grown rapidly, far outpacing global GDP. They are distorting the international marketplace to benefit the Gulf nations at the expense of other airlines and their employees. It is the right of Qatar and the UAE to undertake this government-subsidized business model for their airlines; however, it is not their right to bring that approach into the United States.

U.S. Open Skies aviation trade agreements have been established on the principal of market-based competition. Open and free markets on a level playing field are indeed the basis of all U.S. trade policies. The Gulf subsidies run counter to Open Skies, and therefore can’t be allowed to continue if Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad want to continue to operate into the U.S. under their existing Open Skies Agreements. They can remain subsidized or they can benefit from the advantages provided by Open Skies. They can’t have it both ways.

Naturally, the leaders of these airlines are not happy that their trade violation has been exposed and that the U.S. government is investigating their subsidies. The facts are against Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. They don’t like that. So instead, in an attempt to distract us from the facts, they’ve resorted to hurling insults and issuing threats. Americans for Fair Skies is committed to the evidence and to the facts in this case. We urge the U.S. government to do the same. At the end of the day, the facts will win, and the insults and threats will be nothing more than a distant memory of how desperate men behaved poorly.

Moak is president of Americans for Fair Skies, a veteran U.S. Marine Corps and Navy fighter pilot, former United States Commercial Airline pilot, and the former president of Air Line Pilots Association, International.

Originally published on TheHill.Com: Focus on the facts, not the food fight

By Captain Lee Moak

Since their invention, aviation trade agreements, known as Open Skies, have been a tremendous boon for U.S. airlines, consumers, and aviation employees. Reduced interference allows for growth, and growth means more jobs. Which is why there have been 115 Open Skies agreements signed between the U.S. and other nations over the past 36 years. Roger Dow of US Travel would have you believe, however, that U.S. airlines, their employees, and their allies oppose all such aviation trade agreements. As Emirates CEO Tim Clark said it, this is “tosh.” In fact, such spin is quite dangerous, because it grossly distorts a trade dispute that has affected aviation markets across the globe and directly threatens thousands of U.S. jobs.

Of the 115 Open Skies Agreements signed over the past 36 years, there are currently two that Americans for Fair Skies is asking the U.S. government to address. Which means that we are talking about less than 2% of existing Open Skies Agreements. Indeed, we’re not disputing their legitimacy or their existence – quite the opposite. Evidence has been presented that our trading partners are violating these two agreements, and we are simply asking the U.S. government to address the violations of these agreements. Mr. Dowd’s op-ed ignores all of these facts. His story, which sounds disconcertingly similar to the messaging coming directly from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates‘ three subsidized Gulf airlines, misses the key point that Americans for Fair Skies has been trying to make. Our campaign isn’t about ending Open Skies agreements, its about making sure they are enforced so that all parties involved have the same opportunity to compete fairly. This is about restoring fairness to the two Open Skies Agreements that have not been adhered to by our trading partners. Mr. Dow and the Gulf airlines can spin this all they want – they can threaten and they can grandstand, but the facts remain the same. And frankly they’re quite simple. There is a multitude of evidence proving the existence of more than $42 billion in subsidies that have been provided to the state owned carriers of Qatar and the UAE over the past 10 years. These subsidies directly violate the Open Skies Agreements Qatar and the UAE signed with the United States. And these agreements have a built in dispute resolution mechanism that can be employed by any party at any time.

As National Security Advisor Susan Rice recently put it, “increased trade and investment is good for the global economy, but to realize its full potential, everyone has to play by the same rules.” And that is all we are asking – for the U.S. government to bring Qatar and the UAE to the table as outlined by the agreement they signed so that everyone has the chance to play by the same rules. What’s so wrong about that?

Learn more at FairSkies.Org.

Moak is president of Americans for Fair Skies, a veteran U.S. Marine Corp and Navy fighter pilot, former United States Commercial Airline pilot, and the former president of Air Line Pilots Association, International.

By Captain Lee Moak

There has been a lot of attention recently around the government subsidies Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been funneling to their airlines, which are distorting the international aviation marketplace and violating the aviation trade agreements they hold with the United States, known as Open Skies Agreements. Over $42 billion in government subsidies from foreign competition is devastating for an industry that represents 5% of U.S. GDP and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it directly supports. While this risk to American jobs, and the fact that the subsidies run directly counter to U.S. trade policy, is more than enough reason to expect the U.S. government to call for trade consultations with these two countries to resolve the subsidy violations, it is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the reason these subsidies have the potential to devastate not only the U.S. economy, but to jeopardize U.S. national security as well.

I spent more than twenty years flying for the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy as a fighter pilot, where my job was working to protect this country and its citizens. As a commercial airline pilot for a U.S. airline, my contribution to this country’s national security did not end. Serving as a CRAF (Civil Reserve Air Fleet) pilot, I was called on to fly activated commercial airline support and defend our country at a time of national emergency, including missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The importance of preserving a U.S. based aviation industry isn’t just about the important economic benefits it provides. It’s also about the support provided to the U.S. military by U.S. airlines and their employees as the result of an expansive U.S. airline network and fleet. U.S. airlines and their employees have been called upon in tens of thousands of CRAF and Military Airlift Command (MAC) missions supporting U.S. national defense and foreign policy, moving hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops, and millions of pounds of cargo. This is a cornerstone of the U.S. military’s capabilities, saving U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars annually, and it’s been a vital part of our national defense for over 60 years.

By subsidizing their airlines with more than $42 billion, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are threatening the bedrock of the CRAF program. U.S. airlines are forced to compete against these countries – not their airlines – for international market share, creating unfair competition on an unlevel playing field. Ultimately, facing such drastic subsidies, U.S. airlines will lose or have to forgo international routes, and thereby be unable to sustain the wide-body aircraft utilized to fly both international commercial routes and CRAF missions, undercutting the U.S. military’s ability to call upon U.S. airlines for support for military and humanitarian missions. This can’t be allowed to happen.

As U.S. National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice recently said, “Increased trade and investment is good for the global economy, but to realize its full potential, everyone has to play by the same rules.” When we allow the violations of agreements signed between nations to go unchecked and instead allow the countries perpetuating said violations to encroach on our national interests, we relinquish the ability to not only support our national economy, but also turn the stability of our national security over to the whims of foreign entities with priorities vastly different from U.S. national security interests.

In regards to the subsidy violations of Open Skies being perpetuated by Qatar and the UAE, the U.S. government has taken its first steps towards investigating by opening a joint docket to collect further evidentiary findings. As this process progresses, however, the subsidized Gulf carriers are ramping up their routes into the U.S. in anticipation of a freeze on new routes once formal consultations between nations begin. The U.S. government must act now to freeze new routes for these subsidized carriers into the U.S. until a resolution to the subsidy violations is found. Thousands of U.S. jobs, and the viability of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, depend on fair skies free of subsidies. The time for U.S. government action to restore fairness is now.

Learn more at FairSkies.Org.

Moak is president of Americans for Fair Skies, a veteran U.S. Marine Corp and Navy fighter pilot, former United States Commercial Airline pilot, and the former president of Air Line Pilots Association, International.

Originally found on thehill.com: Subsidy violations don’t just hurt economy; they threaten national security

Americans for Fair Skies commends the bipartisan majority of the House for calling for consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over their violations of the aviation trade agreements, Open Skies, they signed with United States with more than $42 billion in state subsidies. It is clear based on the majority of Congress taking action today, and the poll released Monday that showed 79% of Americans want the U.S. government to take action, that the time for government consultations over the illegal trade violations is now. Our government must stand up for American workers and restore fairness to our skies.