Airline Pilot Central Forums - View Single Post - The UPS holey scope clause (it leaks!!)

01-18-2015, 07:51 AM

#10

Scope Chairman

New Hire

Joined APC: Jan 2015

Posts: 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deespatcher

I always wondered about this. How for example FDX operated an intra euro flight to and from DUB on a purple tail (I believe they run a EIDW-EGSS-LFPG). I had assumed that brown is carrying local volume from EIDW-EINN to justify the use of Star. However, ABX, US registered airline, does not have cabotage rights within Ireland. So either Star has arranged for local volume to move another way or brown has never moved volume locally on that leg (similar to moving LEBL-LEVC or LIPZ-LIRA volume but not on a browntail).

Best I can read (rather quickly mind you) the latest EU-USA Air Transport Agreement of 30 April 2007 Article 3:

There may very well be some extraneous agreements and treaties involved that I am not aware (some one with more lawyers, time, and inclination should look at it), but experience says that if one airplane with a US flag on the tail can operate it, then any other can... regardless of what paint scheme is on the rest of the plane.

[small point, brown does not believe in painting the US flag on its airplanes... unlike EVERY other major(and most regional) US carriers.... makes you wonder if they're proud to be Americans?]

FDX operates as they do because they don’t fly cabotage segments. If they did, it would be subcontracted – like UPS. An easy way to track this is if the first two letters of the ICAO designator are the same, then chances are the route is cabotage. You must, however, remember that cabotage is ONLY for the revenue, not the aircraft. What this means is that a foreign airline CAN fly between two cities within the same country provided it doesn’t pick up volume destined for the other airport within that country.

To use your example, if UPS started the evening with volume from LEBL, flew that volume to LEVC to pick up additional volume but not drop off any volume from LEBL, then continue on to EDDK, this route would not be cabotage. In EDDK UPS would utilize the privileges of Change of Gauge Y, Change of Gauge W, 5ths or 7ths to move the volume out to the world.

Finally, cabotage is not measured by a region, like the EU. It is measured by the nations involved, but some still believe it is measured by the region. This confusion entered the dialogue when the US/EU Open Skies agreement developed “The Community Clause” to describe and validate international route authority negotiations between the US and the EU, a true first in bilateral negotiations. Never before has a group of nations, no matter how codified they were, been allowed to negotiate State to State bilateral agreements.

Cabotage is the volume, not the plane.

You are correct about finding the reference in other locations; the answer lies in the Consolidated Memorandum of Cooperation (11/18/2005 U.S. Text), Article 9.8:

Neither Party shall require an airline of either Party providing the aircraft to hold traffic rights under this Agreement for the routes on which the aircraft [wet leases only] will be operated.

Beyond this reference you will find elsewhere in the Agreement that such agreements may be requested for a single 7 month period, with a single 7 month extension (14 months total), but this is very rare.

No clue why they don’t fly the flag, but we will ask.

Hope this helps Deespatcher. You are well read.

Reply