> US Transport Secy Says Congress Won't Open US Airline Mkt > BRUSSELS (AP)--U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta renewed Washington's > opposition Tuesday to opening up the U.S. domestic market to European carriers - > a key demand of the European Union for sealing an "open skies" civil aviation > deal. At last Mineta does something right. . . . > Talks on liberalizing trans-Atlantic flight travel began last year after > Europe's highest court ruled bilateral deals between Washington and individual > E.U. countries were partly illegal because they discriminated against airlines > from other E.U. nations. > Mineta said Washington had made a major concession in accepting the concept of > the "European airline," meaning Air France, for example, could fly to the U.S. > from any E.U. airport, not just from France. But he takes it back. Mineta, get some balls tell them Europeans that we will not do it this way. The bilaterial is between nations, not the USA and a whole continent. > He said the Bush administration also was willing to ask Congress to bring U.S. > policy in line with E.U. rules by allowing foreigners to own up to 49% of a U.S. > airline, up from the current 25% This is somewhat misleading - foreigners can own up to 49% of a US airline. However, they are limited to 25% of the voting stock. > > "Cabotage is just to me off the table but I'm willing to go to Congress on > increasing the ownership of voting stock from 25% to 49%," he said. See my last statement - evidently Mineta doesn't know they can already own up to 49%. > The 15-nation E.U. doesn't allow cabotage either. But it has become a matter of > principle for the E.U. in promoting itself as the world's largest single market. Sure, they want to fly in the USA but they don't want to allow the reverse. > "European airlines would remain completely excluded from the U.S. domestic > market, while U.S. carriers enjoy the right to fly between most E.U. > destinations today," a spokesman said. As they should. Europeans airlines can fly from the USA to other nations. US airlines can fly between Europeans nations but not within a particualar nation. David R Comments are strictly mine and those of people with intelligence :)