Flight Attendant Union Commends Members of Congress for Taking a Stand for Open and Fair Skies
Washington, DC (April 30, 2015) – The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) applauds the group of bipartisan members of Congress who sent a letter today urging the U.S. government to open consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, following a recent investigation that revealed Gulf states have been providing massive subsidies to their state-owned airlines, a direct violation of the Open Skies Agreement.
“We’ve long been supporters of a fair and level playing field in aviation, and these subsidies directly violate the current agreement between the Gulf states and the U.S.,” said AFA International President Sara Nelson. “Each time our U.S. Airlines are forced to cede a route to the Gulf carriers through unfair competition, more than 800 American jobs are lost. The broad bipartisan action speaks to how important this issue is, and why we need our government to freeze the expansions of these carriers into U.S. markets until the consultation process is concluded.”
We especially recognize the leadership of U.S. Representatives Dold (R-IL), Emmer (R-MN), Israel (D-NY), Lipinski (D-IL) and Pallone (D-NJ) on this critical issue and raising the voices of lawmakers against unfair trade practices.
The letter, signed by 262 members of Congress, cites the concerns of U.S. job loss as a result of unfair competition in the global aviation marketplace. The full text of the letter and the list of signatories is available [here.]
“More than 200 leaders are gathered this week to discuss efforts to lift industry standards for Flight Attendants, international issues threatening the U.S. aviation market, and our collective bargaining rights,” said Nelson. “Flight Attendants will stop at nothing to protect our jobs.”
# # #
The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 67 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.
