You Know the Debate over Control of U.S. Ports—But Do You Know the Plan for Airlines?

by Tula Connell, Mar 9, 2006

Even as the public expresses outrage over the Bush administration’s giveaway of the nation’s port operations to a state-owned Dubai company, President George W. Bush has been working on a similar, less publicized deal—this one involving the foreign control of U.S. airlines.
 
Yesterday, the same day a House committee recommended the Dubai port deal be scrapped, the House Appropriations Committee directed the Bush administration to freeze for 120 days its plan for foreign control of the nation’s airlines.

The Bush administration has long sought to allow foreign companies to control U.S. airlines. The Bush administration tried to do this in 2003, but Congress quickly said ‘No.’ But now they are trying again, having promised the European Union they would give it another shot.
 
Last December, a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers wrote the Bush administration requesting that it not finalize proposals by the federal Transportation Department that would make fundamental changes to the rules governing foreign control of U.S. airlines.
 
Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department says the move by the House committee “is the latest indication of the growing bipartisan opposition to foreign control of U.S. airlines.”

Both Republicans and Democrats understand the severe implications of allowing foreign interests to decide whether or not a U.S. airline helps transport U.S. troops and equipment…in time of war, what country our airlines purchase their aircraft from, and whether aircraft flown by Americans are maintained here or overseas where safety and security standards may be lax. 

As with the debate over a United Arab Emirates company running major U.S. ports, the Bush administration has shown a careless disregard toward protecting our homeland security and our nation’s vital assets.  This is yet another example of globalization run amok.

Members of the Transportation Trades Department know this plan would threaten both America’s jobs and also national security and they encourage everyone to take action and tell Congress  to stop the giveaway of U.S. airline jobs.

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