Thursday, Aug 10, 2017

Dubai

Emirates said it has contributed $21.3 billion in revenues to the US economy, and has generated $3.2 billion of new trade-based revenues for the US.

In an op-ed for Fox News, Emirates President Tim Clark countered arguments made by a former US Secretary of Transportation about Emirates having received billions in government subsidies. Clark stressed that “Emirates competes on a commercial basis and does not receive subsidies.”

He highlighted a report released earlier stating that Emirates supported 104,000 American jobs and contributed billions in revenues to the US economy.

“We brought hundreds of thousands of new travellers to the United States and helped increase competitive air transport options for more than one million American and international travellers who flew with us — generating $3.2 billion of new trade-based revenue for the US,” Clark wrote in his op-ed.

He added that Emirates was the world’s largest buyer of US-built Boeing aircraft, and a key reason why the US has a $19 billion trade surplus with the UAE.

Clark further said that the US carriers have themselves taken advantage of government-sponsored benefits including a $15 billion bailout, pension-relief legislation, fuel-tax breaks and other types of support from state governments.

His op-ed was in direct response to another op-ed in Fox News in July that was written by James Burnley, former US Secretary of Transportation who served under President Ronald Reagan, and current adviser to American Airlines and a partner at Venable.

Burnley claimed in his op-ed that the UAE and Qatar have propped their state-owned carriers — Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways — with over $50 billion in subsidies since 2004. Burnley said it was time for the US government to stand up for US airlines.

“It’s long past time for the US government to stand up for US airlines and workers, and stop the subsidies. The good news is that the Open Skies agreement that the US entered into with the governments of Qatar and the UAE include provisions that give either party the right to request consultations for any reason,” he wrote.

Burnley said enforcing the Open Skies deals with the UAE and Qatar would “establish a level playing field for all airlines to compete fairly.”

However, in his op-ed, Emirates’ president said the three big American airlines (Delta, American Airlines, and United) “have opted to advance their distorted math via million-dollar lobbying campaigns instead of filing a formal complaint against Emirates with the US Department of Transportation.”

According to Clark, they have avoided that formal route because the facts don’t support their claims.

The op-eds by both Clark and Burnley mark the latest in a long-standing war of words behind the big three American carriers and the three Gulf carriers. The feud started when the three US airlines filed a report in 2015 claiming that the Gulf carriers have received billions of dollars in government subsidies to allow them to compete unfairly and take up market share.

Staff Report

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