aiiion4的部落格

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) on February 8, 2005, bestowed its conclusion previously the U.S. House of Representatives House Aviation Sub-Committee, to fine-tuning a regulation which would obvious the way for abroad corporations to own and ownership U.S. airlines. But members of the House Aviation Sub-Committee were all in agreement that the DOT may scarcity the sanctioned supremacy to unilaterally manufacture such a shift. Yet it does not get going to make known all of the implications of specified a historic change in principle in bypassing the U.S. Congress in order to do so.

Trade dialogue with the European Union to loose up regulations in relation of U.S. airlines is seen as a tradeoff by the DOT in proclaim for the U.S. to gain greater entree to landing at London's Heathrow Airport, wherever presently lonesome American Airlines and United Airlines have modest resource within. Known as the Open Skies Agreement, lawmakers in both parties assume that this statement transcends 'free trade' or globalisation as it becomes an put out which head-on impacts labour and national indemnity.

Currently, U.S. law requires that U.S. airlines must be below the "actual control" of U.S. citizens in bid to be authorized for operation. And for corporations, 75% of the ballot colour must be control by U.S. citizens and 66% of its piece of wood of directors and officers essential besides be U.S. citizens. But Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, in a proclamation in November 2005 said that the parameter adjustment would be an "historic opportunity to intensification travel, run down fares, widen commerce and convey two continents mortal mutually than ever back. It provides new opportunities for U.S. and European airlines, healthier jealousy for a mushrooming traverse market and greater relationship relating cities and towns of all sizes on some sides of the Atlantic."

But the President of the Air Line Pilots Association, Intl. has a such varied inference. Captain Duane Woerth testified back the House Aviation Sub-Committee claiming, "Changes of this size should be undertaken not be an administering federal agency but by the legislative arm. Pilots put in their total careers accumulating the higher status necessary to increase accession to internationalist flying opportunities. In an era once the line expectations of pilots and new air hose staff before have been frequently thwarted by air hose bankruptcies, furloughs, earnings concessions, allowance arrangement terminations, and the like, it would be a ultimate slap for the U.S. establishment now to take a logical argument that would run to eliminate planetary winged by U.S. carriers."

Should the new administrate be adopted, beside exclusion of few areas, all hosepipe operations, with prices, scheduling markets, convoy structure, marketing and alliances have the preference of human being pressurised by overseas investors. Additionally, U.S. toil law protections could be compromised and employees move into losing out by man replaced by overseas team. Aviation refuge could be jeopardized as foreign-controlled organization requirement assemble sole least FAA standards, far short and sweet of the inst programs and practices U.S. airlines presently conformity.

Surprisingly, the Department of Defense as fine as the State Department have agreed near the DOT on this aspect. But for individual Congressmen, it does not surpass muster and mega as concerns the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) which is used to moving U.S. military personnel as well as in nowadays of war. The Open Skies Agreement would have to be redrafted to fit such. According to Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), "During the Gulf War a European Union bough didn't give us near a form of delivery service we required once we ran out because they didn't flying buttress the war."

Should the Congress go wrong to compile civil law to congest the projected direct it would issue effect, even conversely peak U.S. airlines next to the indemnity of product carriers, FEDEX and UPS as very well as United Airlines, having latterly reemerged from bankruptcy, are anti to it. John Byerly, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State has well-kept that in dictation for the EU to consent the Open Skies Agreement it is qualified on easing overseas ownership rules. But according to the Government Accountability Office, field capableness limitations such as at Heaththrow would not be rectified by a deregulated statement.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), commanding Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Sub-Committee, in decree to counter the projected edict tuning introduced statute law that would require the bylaw be put on seize for one year, allowing the Congress to appraisal its ramifications on political unit squad and fatherland security, which are first-string issues which must to begin with be addressed.

And piece budding relation of U.S. airlines may be allowable inwardly a year, hog of transaction and guarantee of six U.S. ports will be specified to the United Arab Emirates and based in Dubai. The London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. was purchased on February 13, 2006 by Dubai Ports World. The treaty is supposed to be finalized on March 2, 2006. Peninsular and Oriental Steam Co. is the world's fourth largest ports group and the mart affects the technical U.S. ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) is a incommunicative regime panel comprised of designees from the Department of Treasury, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security. In January 2006, the Bush direction nominated a earlier Director of Operations for Europe and Latin America for Dubai Ports World as the new Maritime Administrator within the Department of Transportation, raising more than a few eyebrows.

But best perplexing to lawmakers is how Dubai, which provided most of the finance for the 19 hijackers on 9/11/2001, will now be overseeing the markedly left where on earth near 3,000 lives were claimed that day. And Dubai was the foot for by a long way of the violent readying and dealing for the attacks in New York and Washington, reported to the FBI.

Since the Bush control considers Dubai and the UAE a important nation in the war resistant terrorism, it approves of the marketing. However, it raises central questions of U.S. political unit protection and country of origin collateral policies at ports wherever shortly little than 5% of all payload is inspected. And having an Islamist country in tariff of U.S. ports arguably makes tiny in allowing it to prescript left operations, specified that U.S. ports rest top terrorist targets.

With the Department of Homeland Security inert struggling to implement systems and dealing to immobilize U.S. ports, allowing Dubai to run the ports could be a entree for contraband, ordnance of mass wreckage and arsenals, as resourcefully as hiring practices minus proper scrutiny, plus the select of financial guarantee which would have to conform to U.S. law. Steve Coleman, Port Authority of New York/New Jersey spokesperson stated, "We have need of to bear a historical approximate appearance at wellbeing until that time we confirm such as a corporation."

James Lewis, a earlier State and Commerce Department contractor, sums it up by saying, "It's in Dubai's flavour to kind confident this runs economically." And unfortunately, it will lug an act of Congress to obstruct the decisiveness of the selling in what will become the world's 2d biggest port operator. Hopefully, ice chest heads in the Congress will outweigh in the top interests of the U.S. in writ to supercede those of foreign interests, all in the dub of globalisation. For the highest outlay to the U.S. is the American people, who not one and only merit the refuge of their senate but one which vows to do its unexcelled to obstruct act of terrorism on its shores ever once again. Anything less is simply unsatisfactory.