Open Skies Article: Interesting Read
 

For those of you that are engaged in this ME3 vs "The Legacies"... this is an interesting read.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2017/05/18/fedex-voices-concerns-over-legacy-airlines.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo

I also find it ironic that JetBlue is PRO-ME3. An ALPA carrier with an anti-ALPA agenda 🤔 At any rate this is a good read to show what we are fighting against within this country. Maybe AA/UA/DL need to get together and put together some patriotic campaign that goes direct to the consumer. I don't see how they (we) win this battle.

There's a reason that FedEx is supportive of the ME3 position. It's Annex 1, Section 1.

It's the part that gives them freedom to operate from the UAE, or Qatar essentially without restrictions. Unlike passenger carriers, cargo carriers can go in and out at multiple times before returning home to the US. The fear of losing that, is what is driving FedEx's opposition to United, American, and Delta.

The difference being that the pilots at JetBlue generally oppose the ME3 in line with ALPA's agenda. It is management that contrasts with ALPA's agenda not our pilots.

I can't speak for the Alaska or Hawaiian pilots, but I hope their view is similar. All non-US3 pilots have to understand that if the ME3 puts our international flights out of business, that capacity is going someplace... most likely into the domestic system and it could start another wave of overcapacity, competition for a limited passenger pool, and possibly another wave of bankruptcies.

No thanks.

Except that our management has learned that capacity drives revenue. We would see a whole lot of parked and underutilized aircraft before that happens. Still not good though.

I refer you to the fleet flexibility discussion here:

http://www.veracast.com/webcasts/bam...6101116293.cfm

JetBlu gets to feed them for their international travelers via code share. They also won the government contract over United. So United pulled out of the ME.

The solution is easy. The US government needs to give the US airlines subsidies of an equal amount that the ME3 get. The US airlines can buy Boeing aircraft to fly to the Middle East and anywhere else the ME3 abuses the system!
Since our government doesn't care about a balanced budget, another 50 billion dollar line item is nothing.

The battle against the ME3 was lost ten years ago. I'm sorry to say that NOBODY is on OUR side on this one. JetBlue, Virgin America/Alaska, Hawaiian, FedEx, UPS and American either codeshare directly with one or all of the ME3 airlines or have a cargo facility located over there that makes them side with the ME3. Congress, the President and the American people are on the side of the ME3 as well. Congress has been bought off, the President has hotels over there and Boeing has Trump in their pocket etc...and the American voter HATES our airlines.

This battle was lost almost a decade before the former Delta CEO started organizing a campaign to fight the ME3 a few years ago.

That's a good point about Delta. Richard Anderson seemed to be able to influence the industry with regards to capacity discipline. I don't have confidence in that discipline being maintained by all actors, especially those with a declining international fleet.

But at this point, it's all conjecture.

Shouldn't the subsidy be proportional to the size of the country's GDP? Wouldn't that make the subsidy to us about a $gazillion?