Americans broadly agree that the U.S. government needs to act to end aviation trade agreement violations

WASHINGTON - A survey of American voters conducted during the week of April 20, 2015 shows that over 79% of American voters believe that the U.S. government should act to remedy trade violations of Open Skies Agreements and stand up for American workers. The poll results have been formulated from the responses of 2,409 registered voters in San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington DC. The nonpartisan, issue-based poll was conducted by Premiere Political Communications of Austin, Texas on behalf of Americans for Fair Skies.

Americans broadly agree that the U.S. government needs to act to end aviation trade agreement violations:

• 74 percent feel the U.S. government should take action to remedy violations if it was proven that foreign partners were violating the Open Skies agreements they signed with the United States.
• 79 percent of voters 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.
• 79 percent of voters 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.

For over 10 years, the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have subsidized their airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and Emirates, with over $42 billion in violation of the Open Skies aviation trade agreements they signed with the U.S. These subsidies have resulted a significant distortion of the private, open marketplace, allowing these airlines to artificially lower the cost of seats, dumping excess seat capacity on routes, undermining the principles of fair competition outlined in the trade agreements and threatening U.S. aviation jobs.

"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," said Captain Lee Moak, President of Americans for Fair Skies. "The time for consultations between nations to resolve this issue is now."