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Continental opposes foreign control of American airlines
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Posted on Nov 14 2005
Continental Airlines has expressed its opposition to the U.S. Department of Transportation proposal to allow foreign control of U.S. airlines.
In a statement, Continental described the plan as “a blatant attempt to circumvent the law that the DOT has been unable to convince Congress to change.”
DOT’s proposal to change the law outside the legislative process will spur legal questions, which will eventually discourage the very investment that the federal agency is trying to encourage, the airline added.
“DOT proposes to unilaterally limit the application of the law to only certain aspects of airline management, while the statute requires that U.S. citizens have actual control over all aspects of airline operations,” a portion of the statement read.
“This shows that either the DOT has misinterpreted the law or has ignored the realities of internal airline management and how airlines operate. Actual control over day-to-day operations, including scheduling, pricing, employment and labor decisions and financing, provides foreign citizens actual control of the very areas DOT is trying to carve out. Airline operations cannot be split in the manner DOT is suggesting,” the statement added.
According to the airline, the foreign ownership restrictions for U.S. airlines should be reviewed and subjected to debate, but that debate should be heard in Congress.
Continental also said that DOT’s proposal would allow foreign airlines to operate domestic flights within the United States. This is expressly prohibited by federal aviation law.
“Congress should carefully consider and debate all aspects of foreign control, including the serious and far-reaching effects on U.S. jobs, national defense, homeland security and the future of the U.S. airline industry,” the air carrier said.
In view of this, Continental urged the U.S. Congress to require DOT to withdraw its proposal.
