The US3 v ME3 fight continues to smolder. No major new developments in recent weeks but the “grass roots” group calling itself Americans for Fair Skies is among those that continues to push the occasional propaganda. The latest version takes some incredible liberties with geography.
Our #OpenSkies Agreements with #Qatar and the #UAE are not working the way they are supposed to, and it's hurting American workers. pic.twitter.com/7fNzETJG6Z
— Fair Skies (@fairskies) October 5, 2017
The “expectations” side of the map includes some great options, like connections between Greenland and Sweden. The density of flights to Irkutsk is also impressive. With expectations like that maybe the disappointment with reality is easier to understand.
But the real good stuff comes on the “reality” side of the map. It is an amazing performance. The massive centralization of flights is squarely in Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. They missed the mark by more than 2,000 miles. Or maybe they know something about a reborn Alitalia the rest of us are missing.
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And, of course, the usual refrain here about how the US and EU carriers essentially want to do the same thing with their hubs, just in different locations that aren’t as successful at connecting passengers in the more heavily populated parts of the world.
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The overall uptick in open political lobbying by US airlines in recent months (yes, it seems to be even more recently) should not be surprising, I suppose. They are businesses desperate to please Wall Street and drive even higher profits. The regulatory framework mostly protects the existing players and anything it can do on that front to further such goals is good for business, right?
At least with this approach we know what they’re up to rather than only finding out after the deals are done.
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This is no “grass roots” group (as you clearly understand from your use of quotes). This is a front organization for “The Chapter 11 Three” who find it easier to lobby congress for restrictions on consumer choice than improve their own service.
Let the customer decide which airline he chooses to fly.
But their target is Congress and the White House. How many of the occupants of those places know anything about geography? I wish we had the Sweden-Greenland link, though. I can’t find anything to Greenland approaching a reasonable price.
If I’m sitting in Dubai looking at the US3 don’t I see the same hub activity through the US with the US3?