Industry poll: Majority agree with airlines in Open Skies dispute

Three-quarters of U.S. voters want the Obama administration to intervene in a dispute over foreign airline subsidies that has roiled the aviation industry, according to an industry poll that was released on Monday.

Unions that represent parts of the U.S. airline industry have alleged Middle Eastern airlines like Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines have received more than $42 billion in subsidies since 2004.

A coalition of airline industry groups known as Americans for Fair Skies said its poll showed 74 percent of U.S. voters think the federal government should investigate the domestic aviation industry’s complaints about the Middle Eastern carriers.  

{mosads}”The poll shows that Americans are ready to see the U.S. government stand up for aviation workers and find solutions to aviation trade violations that threaten the viability of a critical national industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it creates. The time for consultations between nations to resolve this issue is now,” said Americans for Fair Skies President Lee Moak, who is also a former president of the Air Line Pilots Association union. 

The fight over the Open Skies agreements has exposed a rift between airlines and travel and consumer groups, who argue U.S. carriers are trying to prevent competition for international flights. 

The ‘Fair Skies’ group said Monday that 79 percent of the respondents to its poll “feel that the U.S. government should take action to resolve these subsidy violations rather than waiting for the consumer-driven marketplace to work out a solution.” 

The group said 79 percent of its respondents also “feel it is a national security risk to allow the viability of our aviation infrastructure to be threatened due to its important relationship supporting the U.S. military in times of crisis.” 

Travel groups questioned the results of the Fair Skies group’s polling, saying that it offers only a one-sided portrayal of the Open Skies debate. 

“A cooked-up poll isn’t evidence of consensus, but rather continued condescension,” U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Jonathan Grella said in a statement that was provided to The Hill on Monday evening.

“They want to make this about everything but preserving choices for travelers, which says it all,” he continued. 

The Obama administration said earlier this month that they are launching an informal review of the airline industry’s claims similar to the one Durbin suggested because the allegations against the Middle Eastern carriers “are asserted in a publicly available report, are of significant interest to stakeholders and all three federal agencies.” 

The decision was widely seen as a victory for U.S. airlines, although the administration’s review is short of the full-scale confrontation with the Middle Eastern nations over the Open Skies agreement that the industry has been seeking. 

-This story was updated with new information at 8:28 p.m.