The congressional panel that sets U.S. Department of Transportation funding this month recommended a four-month delay in the potential implementation of an administration proposal to ease restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines
(BTN, Nov. 14, 2005).DOT may decide later this month whether to issue a final ruling on the softened restrictions. A ruling would remove a final barrier to European Union approval of a treaty to allow more transatlantic routes
(BTN, Dec. 5, 2005).In the wake of the controversy over a now-defunct plan to allow a state-owned Dubai company to take over some U.S. port operations, DOT Secretary Norman Mineta on March 7 accused one carrier of drawing unfair and false parallels to the controversy to allege the proposal would increase terror risks.
Mineta, defending the administration's fiscal 2007 budget request before the House appropriations subcommittee on transportation and treasury, called a memo being circulated by the carrier, which DOT refused to identify, "replete with inaccuracies." He told the panel it was bad for "public discourse" and lambasted the memo's assertion that the proposed rules would essentially "hand over the key to the cockpit" to terrorists. "That's just not true at all," Mineta said.
Some members of Congress for months have fought the administration's proposal to allow foreign carriers to have more say in operating decisions of its U.S. partners by allowing a greater financial stake. DOT stressed that U.S. citizens would retain control of carriers' safety and security. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), who counts Continental Airlines as one of his district's constituents, said Americans would be "furious" if they discover it will be easier for foreigners to gain a stake in U.S. airlines. "We could have Nigerians owning Continental Airlines," Culberson said. "We could have Pakistan buy out United or Delta.''
Mineta dismissed such concerns as uninformed, emphasizing that the rules don't change the law and that U.S. citizens must still retain actual control of an airline.