The United States federal government should close the United States Department of Transportation


Exts – CP Solves (Foreign Ownership)



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Exts – CP Solves (Foreign Ownership)




Allowing foreign airlines into the US saves the US industry and creates growth.


Elliot, 2 MA in Journalism from Berkeley, Founded the Internet’s first business travel website in 1994, travel columnist for Washington Post (Chris, “Let foreign airlines fly in U.S.” Elliot.org, 12/18, www.elliott.org/commentary/let-foreign-airlines-fly-in-us/) //RI

Whenever business takes him overseas, Seung Oh prefers to fly on carriers such as Korean Air or Singapore Airlines. “The service is much better than you find on an American airline,” says Oh, the vice president for a technology investment company in Fairfield, Conn. “Too bad they don’t fly domestic routes.” Well, why not? The short answer: The government won’t let them. Under current rules, the right of a foreign airline to carry passengers from one point to another within the United States is usually entirely denied or severely limited. The restrictions are meant to protect our transportation infrastructure and keep us safe. Maybe the time has come to rethink these laws. On Dec. 9, United Airlines made the largest bankruptcy filing in aviation history. It joined US Airways, which also is flying under Chapter 11 protection. Overall, the airline industry will lose billions of dollars this year. United attorney James Sprayregen said his company will hemorrhage between $20 million and $22 million a day this month. The U.S. airline industry’s massive losses are forcing carriers to cut costs deeply, which will affect workers, routes, service and maybe even safety. United, which has already negotiated some worker concessions, says it will require even more slashing to emerge from bankruptcy. Given these cutbacks, allowing foreign carriers into the domestic market could improve life for American travelers. The foreign carriers would almost certainly make the incumbents the U.S. airlines offer better service, lower prices and, most important, they would behave better,” said Dan Alger, an associate professor of economics and an expert on deregulation at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. Is there a market for foreign carriers stateside? Absolutely. For example, Oh said he would be willing to pay extra to fly a foreign airline domestically because he wouldn’t have to endure the inconsistent service levels he finds on the American carriers. Unlike U.S. air carriers, foreign airlines such as Lufthansa are turning a tidy profit (Lufthansa’s profits are up 172% over last year), allowing them to maintain high levels of service not offered on U.S. airlines. While its U.S. competitors cut back on amenities, meals and flight schedules, Lufthansa this summer added an acclaimed all-business-class service between Newark, N.J., and Dusseldorf, Germany. A good analogy for allowing foreign airline companies into the U.S. market is what happened in the auto industry. In the 1970s, an influx of foreign-made autos revved up competition and the quality of American automobiles. Similarly, the lowering of trade barriers in the natural gas market, particularly between Canada and the United States, led to lower prices and more reliable service in the mid-1990s. Sure, there are barriers to changing these rules. But they’re not insurmountable. The country whose carrier wanted to serve a U.S. destination would have to reciprocate, allowing our airlines to compete on its domestic routes. Letting foreign carriers in might raise questions about security. Fortunately, the U.S. government has a new federal agency, the Transportation Security Administration, to make sure such questions are resolved. Labor unions would put up a fight, because they view any loosening of these rules as a threat to their members’ job security. That’s shortsighted. What if JetBlue or Midwest Express two U.S. airlines with reputations for offering excellent customer service could fly to cities within the European Union? What if Southwest Airlines could export its low-cost structure and no-nonsense attitude to Asian markets? Certainly, the United States’ airline industry would benefit substantially from that kind of arrangement. The U.S. government, however, insists on fighting a losing battle. Congress last year allocated $15 billion in loans and grants to the domestic airline industry in an effort to jump-start the business. Rather than relax foreign airline restrictions, the government is rigorously enforcing them. In October, it fined Asiana Airlines, the South Korean carrier, a record $750,000 for unauthorized service between Guam and Saipan, part of a U.S. commonwealth. That’s definitely a move in the wrong direction. If the U.S. government really wants a customer-friendly, competitive airline industry in this country, it should overhaul the protectionist laws that promote mediocrity and stifle true competition among all carriers.

More evidence -- allowing foreign ownership bolsters the US industry and creates sustainable growth.


Furlan, 6 – MBA in business U of Miami , BS, Aviation Business - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

, J.D. Law U of Miami, Counsel and Financial Professional to Jet Trading & Leasing (Christopher, “Air Cargo Foreign Ownership Restrictions in the United States”, University of Miami School of Law, 5/13, http://www.tiaca.org/images/tiaca/PDF/Air%20Cargo%20Foreign%20Ownership%20Restrictions%20in%20the%20United%20State.pdf)//RI

4) Greater Stability and Competition Through Global Diversification and Expansion If airline ownership restrictions are removed, stability to the system will be enhanced due to the ability to expand into markets and regions not currently available. As U.S. and other cargo airlines expand operations into new markets through either acquisition or expansion, they will diversify their customer base, country political risks, currency risk, economic risk and other risks associated with the confinement of operating out of only one nation. The reduced reliance on a single home market for the vast majority of revenues would serve to better insulate airlines to economic shocks and downturns in their home markets creating more stable and reliable revenue streams. Similarly, global diversification would allow for a better allocation of costs and the ability to improve cost performance through taking advantage of lower cost structure regions of the world, and provide a greater degree of currency diversification both on the cost and revenue sides. Allowing airlines to branch out and operate in other nations by removing foreign ownership restrictions would provide the industry with greater stability and diversification currently available to most other global industries.

Regulations are outdated by 85 years -- prevents massive industrial capital gains.


Furlan, 6 – MBA in business U of Miami , BS, Aviation Business - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

, J.D. Law U of Miami, Counsel and Financial Professional to Jet Trading & Leasing (Christopher, “Air Cargo Foreign Ownership Restrictions in the United States”, University of Miami School of Law, 5/13, http://www.tiaca.org/images/tiaca/PDF/Air%20Cargo%20Foreign%20Ownership%20Restrictions%20in%20the%20United%20State.pdf)//RI

3) Access to Equity and Merger Capital Probably the greatest benefit to the airline industry that would occur from the removal of ownership and control clauses is improved access to global capital. The airline industry is legally restricted from seeking significant levels of overseas capital or vertically integrating with aircraft manufacturers. As airline industry fortunes often move up and down in tandem, when a horizontal merger with another airline would be most likely is also the time when the airlines can least afford the cost of merging. Boxed in as such, allowing the industry to tap the huge market of foreign capital would greatly benefit the financial needs of this capital-intensive industry. Being one of the most international of industries, it is especially anachronistic that its financial requirements should be restricted based on a rationale established in the law dating back to the Air Commerce Act of 1926.

Status quo restrictions prevent industry growth.


Furlan, 6 – MBA in business U of Miami , BS, Aviation Business - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

, J.D. Law U of Miami, Counsel and Financial Professional to Jet Trading & Leasing (Christopher, “Air Cargo Foreign Ownership Restrictions in the United States”, University of Miami School of Law, 5/13, http://www.tiaca.org/images/tiaca/PDF/Air%20Cargo%20Foreign%20Ownership%20Restrictions%20in%20the%20United%20State.pdf)//RI



The airline industry, though highly deregulated remains politicized. If an airline wishes to commence service to a non-open skies bilateral country it must seek approval from the DOT and may be awarded the service if unutilized flights are available in the agreement. Most often unutilized flights are unavailable, so the airline needs to petition the DOT to negotiate with the other nation for changes to the bilateral, which may happen in years or not at all. This is an unnecessary restriction on commerce and an administrative burden. Should ownership and control restrictions be eliminated, airlines would be free to increase operations in markets that are promising and profitable with little delay in timing. Conversely, when a market declines, airlines would be in a position to reduce capacity without fear of loosing their right to resume service, as is the case with existing bilateral agreements. Airlines from all participating countries would be in a better position to match capacity with existing cargo demands. This increased flexibility and efficiency is achievable by depoliticizing the international flight allocation process and allowing the free market to determine adequate capacity levels for each market. Similarly, cost savings would accrue to the airlines from the removal of these costly administrative burdens.



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