Lawmakers seek meeting with Foxx over Gulf airlines' entry into US

Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Robert Dold (R-IL), Paul Cook (R-CA), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Steve Israel (D-NY), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) are asking to meet with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to discuss protecting rights of U.S. airlines and their workers from unfair competition.

“As the public comment period is now officially closed, it is time for your agency to swiftly address these trade violations,” the members wrote in a recent letter to Foxx. “We formally request a meeting with you to discuss the threats posed by the subsidized Gulf carriers to the U.S. airline industry and to U.S. workers' jobs.”

This bipartisan group was joined by 256 colleagues in the House of Representatives this year in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, urging timely consultations with the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to address the subsidized capacity that their state-owned airlines – Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates – are deploying to the United States, in direct violation of U.S. Open Skies policy.

Through the docket-submission process, additional evidence has surfaced that the Gulf carriers’ entry into the United States is causing significant harm to the U.S. aviation industry and the hundreds of thousands of workers it supports.