Congress Just SCREWED you (again)
Say hello to foreign investment and rasing the ownership cap. Welcome Virgin and Ryan - for US pilots: your airline "career" just ended.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress has agreed not to hold up a Bush administration proposal aimed at attracting foreign investment to U.S. airlines, despite security concerns among some lawmakers, officials said on Thursday.
Lawmakers negotiating emergency war spending and hurricane relief legislation have agreed to drop language from a bill that stipulates delaying the airline proposal for a year, House and Senate aides said. The language was the central obstacle to the proposal.
The decision cleared the way for the Transportation Department to finalize the change as early as this summer. It also keeps on track a tentative aviation agreement between U.S. and European Union negotiators to further open up transatlantic service.
A spokesman for the agency said transportation planners will "continue to move forward" with the proposal, which was introduced last November and updated several weeks ago to address congressional concerns.
The ownership law limits overseas investment to a maximum of 25 percent voting stock and little or no foreign influence on operating decisions, conditions that have discouraged foreigners from taking an interest U.S. carriers over the years, with a few exceptions.
The Transportation Department and other proponents say changing the restrictions on control are overdue to help an industry where four big airlines have fallen into bankruptcy since 2002 and high costs and losses continue to define much of the business.
They contend that giving foreigners influence over pricing, scheduling, fleet plans and other operating issues for their stake of up to 25 percent could expand the pool of investors in U.S. airlines, introduce new competition and enhance partnerships.
Previous attempts to ease the restrictions have withered on Capitol Hill and current congressional objections centered on national security concerns, which were sharpened by the Dubai Ports controversy this year.
Some lawmakers also objected to the potential impact foreign investment would have on labor unions and American jobs in general.