Why we should be proactive...
11-27-2008 | 05:08 AM
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Why we should be proactive...
With our local political leaders and let them know how we feel about these issues. Open skies can be devastating to american jobs...
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Chile could be first to agree to new US nationality exemption
Chile may be the first country to take advantage of a new US bilateral initiative to waive a nationality clause that would liberalise airline operations further between the two nations.
US State Department deputy assistant secretary for transportation, John Byerly, says the current nationality restriction in Open Skies agreements "is a problem" and he is offering countries a chance to work with the US to waive the restriction. "I have a draft with me," he says, responding to a question by LAN CEO Enrique Cueto.
Cueto says that even though Chile and the US have an Open Skies agreement, current foreign ownership limitations "make it difficult for us to work together." After an Open Skies session during the ALTA airline leaders forum in Cancun, Cueto asked for a copy of Byerly's proposal so that he could encourage Chile to explore signing it.
In a hypothetical example, Byerly says if GOL would buy LAN tomorrow, the Brazilian airline would not currently be able to operate LAN in the same way: LAN would lose its carte blanche Open Skies ability to fly to any market in the US because Brazil is not an Open Skies partner with the US.
If Chile signs the new agreement, it may start a trend among nations wanting to remove one of the thorniest issues in Open Skies pacts. Byerly notes that there are 3,500 air service agreements worldwide, and if nationality clauses were removed, "we could change the world fairly quickly" and that the move "would create a more competitive airline industry".
European Commission director general for energy & transport, Mark Niklas, agrees with Byerly, adding that the European Union "waived the nationality clause with Chile last year".
Both US and EU representatives called the first stage of the broad US-EU pact - that became effective in March 2008 - a success. Byerly notes that the pathway of future negotiations shouldn't change after US President-elect Barack Obama takes over in January. "The commitment to pursue the second stage is a legal commitment. It's in the document."
Mexicana's legal vice president Javier Christlieb called for US and EU factions to "recognise the differences" in Latin countries. Byerly disagreed, saying that terms such as "balanced and holistic" also mean "protectionist."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
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Chile could be first to agree to new US nationality exemption
Chile may be the first country to take advantage of a new US bilateral initiative to waive a nationality clause that would liberalise airline operations further between the two nations.
US State Department deputy assistant secretary for transportation, John Byerly, says the current nationality restriction in Open Skies agreements "is a problem" and he is offering countries a chance to work with the US to waive the restriction. "I have a draft with me," he says, responding to a question by LAN CEO Enrique Cueto.
Cueto says that even though Chile and the US have an Open Skies agreement, current foreign ownership limitations "make it difficult for us to work together." After an Open Skies session during the ALTA airline leaders forum in Cancun, Cueto asked for a copy of Byerly's proposal so that he could encourage Chile to explore signing it.
In a hypothetical example, Byerly says if GOL would buy LAN tomorrow, the Brazilian airline would not currently be able to operate LAN in the same way: LAN would lose its carte blanche Open Skies ability to fly to any market in the US because Brazil is not an Open Skies partner with the US.
If Chile signs the new agreement, it may start a trend among nations wanting to remove one of the thorniest issues in Open Skies pacts. Byerly notes that there are 3,500 air service agreements worldwide, and if nationality clauses were removed, "we could change the world fairly quickly" and that the move "would create a more competitive airline industry".
European Commission director general for energy & transport, Mark Niklas, agrees with Byerly, adding that the European Union "waived the nationality clause with Chile last year".
Both US and EU representatives called the first stage of the broad US-EU pact - that became effective in March 2008 - a success. Byerly notes that the pathway of future negotiations shouldn't change after US President-elect Barack Obama takes over in January. "The commitment to pursue the second stage is a legal commitment. It's in the document."
Mexicana's legal vice president Javier Christlieb called for US and EU factions to "recognise the differences" in Latin countries. Byerly disagreed, saying that terms such as "balanced and holistic" also mean "protectionist."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
