7.07.15 – APFA Press Release: Flight Attendants Urge U.S. Senators to Join Fight for a Level Playing Field

Flight Attendants Urge U.S. Senators to Join Fight for a Level Playing Field

Fly In Stresses Need to Protect American Jobs in the Face of Billions of Dollars in Subsidies from Gulf Nations

Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2015) – Today, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies released a new video showcasing some of the flight attendants who have been visiting Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers on the immediate harm that the continued subsidization of the Gulf carriers are having on the American aviation industry and American jobs. Members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) met with numerous senators to ask for help encouraging the U.S. government to request consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“Flight attendants understand that their jobs are on the chopping block as Qatar and the UAE continue to subsidize their airlines with billions of dollars in violation of Open Skies policy. That is why they are urging lawmakers to stand up for American jobs and the U.S. aviation industry,” said Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.

“The subsidies the Gulf carriers receive allow them to undercut U.S. airlines on pricing, forcing the U.S. airlines to cut routes where they can no longer compete, impacting thousands of American jobs,” said Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA). “On behalf of our 25,000 flight attendants, we are simply asking for the U.S. government to address these subsidies so we can compete on a level playing field.”

The Partnership, along with over 260 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 21 U.S. senators, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing over 1,400 mayors of major U.S. cities, and dozens of business, trade and economic groups around the country, is asking the U.S. government to request consultations with Qatar and UAE and ask for an immediate freeze on the introduction of new passenger service by the Gulf carriers during these consultations.

Background on Partnership for Open & Fair Skies
The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies is a coalition that includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, along with the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, the Southwest Airline Pilots’ Association, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Communications Workers of America, and the Airline Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Partnership presented a white paper, Restoring Open Skies: The Need to Address Subsidized Competition from State-Owned Airlines in Qatar and the UAE, to the U.S. government. The Partnership called on the Obama Administration to open consultations under the Open Skies agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to address the flow of subsidized capacity to the U.S., and to seek a freeze on new passenger service during the consultations.