Rapporti problematici tra compagnie USA e Air Italy

[canadian#affairs]

Lawmaker urges Trump to enforce Open Skies deal with Qatar
By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

Thursday, March 14, 2019

A Republican ally of President Trump is urging the president to enforce an agreement with Qatar aimed at stopping illegal subsidies for its state-owned airline, saying the Middle Eastern nation is cheating on the deal and harming U.S. airline workers.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told Mr. Trump in a letter obtained by The Washington Times that Qatar is “blatantly” violating the Open Skies agreement that is intended to ensure fair competition.

The lawmaker said soon after the agreement was reached last year, Qatar Airways purchased an Italian regional airline with $100 million euros from the Qatari government and announced that the new “Air Italy” would fly to five cities in the U.S. In December, a bipartisan group of senators raised similar concerns with the administration.

“Not only does Qatar’s cheating undermine competition and threaten American workers — over 1,500 American jobs are lost for every route launched into the U.S. by a subsidized Middle Eastern carrier — but it directly and deliberately threatens our ‘America First’ policies,” the lawmaker wrote.

He said the Open Skies agreement was supposed to halt the expansion by Qatar Airways into the U.S. until its state subsidies were halted completely.

“Air Italy is nothing more than a proxy airline for Qatar to get around the deal it signed after pledging to stop this trade cheating,” Mr. Gaetz wrote to the president.

The lawmaker urged Mr. Trump to “continue standing up to Qatar and demanding enforcement of the deal they are violating or we must withdraw from the agreement altogether.” He said the United Arab Emirates is also violating the agreement with subsidies for Emirates and Etihad Airways.

The White House had no immediate response to the letter.


Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019 ... eal-qatar/

[easyMXP]

over 1,500 American jobs are lost for every route launched into the U.S. by a subsidized Middle Eastern carrier

Ma ste ca***te le dicono per arieggiare la bocca o ci credono veramente? L'aereo vola comunque, ed è magari un Boeing mentre le US3 volano anche con Airbus, benzina, catering e servizi aeroportuali li comprano comunque, la gente viaggia e spende comunque, addirittura l'equipaggio dorme in albergo mentre gli americani a casa loro...
Dove li vedono 1500 posti? Giusto gli equipaggi che sarebbero in turno su quei voli.

[mattaus313]

Ma ste ca***te le dicono per arieggiare la bocca o ci credono veramente? L'aereo vola comunque, ed è magari un Boeing mentre le US3 volano anche con Airbus, benzina, catering e servizi aeroportuali li comprano comunque, la gente viaggia e spende comunque, addirittura l'equipaggio dorme in albergo mentre gli americani a casa loro...
Dove li vedono 1500 posti? Giusto gli equipaggi che sarebbero in turno su quei voli.

Penso una buona via di mezzo, ci credono e la diretta conseguenza fisiologica sono queste fuoriuscite. Vorrei che qualche economista serio (americano o non) calcolasse seriamente quanto le compagnie del golfo portano al sistema USA nel suo complesso tra Boeing che volano con annessi e connessi, persone che una volta sbarcate spendono (e spesso pure tanto) e ci metterei dentro eventuali transiti, che se le US3 concedessero probabilmente farebbero più soldi e bella figura.

[wrth]

L'economia statunitense messa a repentaglio dai voli sugli USA(non in V liberta) di AIR ITALY perché il socio di minoranza è arabo.
Perchè questi politici non si lamentano quando Boeing vende aerei per miliardi di dollari alle ME3? Visto che poi verranno usati per volare anche in USA? E quando vendono armi per centinaia di miliardi di dollari all'Arabia? Aggià quelli sono gli arabi bravi...
Ipocriti.

[KittyHawk]

Anche calcolando solo il 50% del prezzo di listino, QR ha ordinato a Boeing aerei per un controvalore di almeno 17 miliardi di dollari. E questo è un dato incontrovertibile, non i numeri che Matt Gaetz va sparando a casaccio per gli ignoranti seguaci di "America first". Quanti posti di lavoro negli USA genera un investimento di 17 miliardi di dollari?

[milmxp]

Anche calcolando solo il 50% del prezzo di listino, QR ha ordinato a Boeing aerei per un controvalore di almeno 17 miliardi di dollari. E questo è un dato incontrovertibile, non i numeri che Matt Gaetz va sparando a casaccio per gli ignoranti seguaci di "America first". Quanti posti di lavoro negli USA genera un investimento di 17 miliardi di dollari?

Penso che ora gli americani abbiano altre grane da risolvere, e ricordiamoci che AAB ha in ordine 57 MAX se non mi sbaglio, ordine che potrebbe anche disdire e portare gli altri a disdire sulla scia del panico generale (non sto dicendo che accadrà, ma è una delle possibili opzioni).

[KL63]

Questi sbraitano a vanvera ed io però non vedo un'analoga presa di posizione da parte di Mr. Trump, che è poi quello che conta.
Forse il campione dell'America first si rende conto che per quattro voli di una compagnia stand alone che non si sa quanto durerà non sia il caso di mettere a repentaglio i rapporti con il Qatar.

[canadian#affairs]

A proposito delle nuove uniformi


Air Italy’s New Uniform Just Cements the Concern its Qatar Airways With a Different Name
MATEUSZ MASZCZYNSKI
30TH MARCH 2019



Air Italy's New Uniform Just Cements the Concern its Qatar Airways With a Different Name

Of all the different branding elements that an airline can use, the cabin crew uniform has to be one of the most important. From the distinctive red hats worn by Emirates cabin crew or the iconic sarong kabaya of Singapore Airlines, the right uniform can instantly bring brand recognition and evoke feelings of trust and professionalism.

It’s understandable then that airlines spend a fair amount of time, effort and money developing the right uniform. Staff not only have to be smart and professional but the look has to make them ‘stand out from the crowd’ – a walking billboard if you like that will hopefully make passengers stop in their tracks.

You would have thought then that a new airline would want to dress its crew in a uniform that really is different. That, however, can’t be said of Air Italy – look quickly and you could easily be forgiven for thinking they’re from Qatar Airways.

It’s a strange decision and one that is only going to cement the concern raised by many critics that Air Italy is a subsidiary of State-funded Qatar Airways – being used to circumvent an agreement the Persian Gulf country reached with the United States last year.

Air Italy isn’t technically brand new – Qatar Airways bought a 49% stake in little-known Italian airline Meridiana a couple of years ago. Then, in February 2018, Qatar Airways announced plans to rebrand Meridiana as Air Italy – there are plans to grow the ‘new’ airline quite significantly over the next few years.


By 2022, Air Italy hopes to have 50 aircraft in its fleet – the airline will be getting brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s, as well as 737 MAX aircraft that have all been funded by Qatar Airways. In the interim, Qatar Airways has also leased out its own A330 aircraft.


Air Italy says it will work with Qatar Airways to “build a sustainable airline alternative for the people of Italy”.

In fairness, the involvement of Qatar Airways with Air Italy has always been fairly obvious – the branding makes use of the distinctive Qatari burgundy colour in the bucket load. Apart from the fact the airline has the word ‘Italy’ in its name, you wouldn’t know it was actually Italian.

And then there’s the uniform – aside from the Air Italy logo and an updated neck scarf, the uniform is exactly the same to the one worn by Qatar Airways cabin crew. We actually thought this was a temporary solution but no, Air Italy confirms this is the permanent uniform that was originally designed for Qatar Airways by Danish workwear company Olino in 2008.

Critics claim Qatar Airways has received (it’s claimed) over $25 billion in undocumented subsidies from its government owner, so in turn, the argument goes that Air Italy has also been financed through State-funded subsidies. You would have thought that Air Italy would want to distance itself from its controversial majority shareholder.

The timing for Air Italy’s launch has also raised eyebrows – it came just months after Qatar and the United States reached an agreement over an Open Skies dispute. Qatar agreed to become more transparent and also said it had no plans to open any fifth-freedom routes to the United States.

You could argue that Qatar Airways investing in Air Italy is no different than any other airline making international investments – say, like Delta Air Lines buying a stake in Virgin Atlantic in order to increase its market share at London’s Heathrow Airport. But Delta says that’s missing the point.

Qatar Airways isn’t subject to market forces like Delta because it’s funded through government subsidies. Essentially, they claim the competition that Air Italy is creating might be good for passengers but it’s not fair and could put jobs at risk.

That argument, though, is slightly clouded by the existence of Alitalia. The Italian flag-carrier hasn’t made a profit in years, is technically bankrupt and is being propped up by a multi-billion Euro government loan paid for by Italian taxpayers. For all intents and purposes, the airline should have gone out of business but is only still flying because it’s being bankrolled by the Italian State.

The plan is to offload Alitalia on to private investors by the Summer – if that does actually happen (there’s every chance it doesn’t) then that could make it a lot harder to justify where Air Italy is getting its funding from.

To be continued…

https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2019 ... J9h6lVKiM8

[KittyHawk]

...
The plan is to offload Alitalia on to private investors by the Summer – if that does actually happen (there’s every chance it doesn’t) then that could make it a lot harder to justify where Air Italy is getting its funding from.

Ecco che un articolo indica quale sarebbe la soluzione per azzoppare completamente Air Italy: comprare e privatizzare definitivamente Alitalia, rendendo indifendibili gli interventi qatarioti. Ma a quanto pare neanche il top management di Delta è disposto a sacrificarsi per la causa americana e delle US3, anche se ne ha l'occasione. :green:

[canadian#affairs]

Pompeo: U.S. looking 'very closely' at Qatar-Air Italy deal

APRIL 10, 2019 / 4:30 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the State Department was looking closely at Qatar Airways’ acquisition of a 49 percent stake in Air Italy.

Questioned repeatedly about the deal during a U.S. Senate hearing, Pompeo said, “We’re looking very closely at this recent decision by Qatar to take on 49 percent of this airline.”

Both Republicans and Democrats at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing said they were concerned that the deal with the Italian carrier violated an agreement Qatar Airways’ reached with the United States in early 2018.

https://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-q ... RM1XD?il=0

[RAV38]

Insistono.

[I-GABE]

A leggere l'articolo a me sembra solo che Pompeo abbia risposto ai questuanti che stanno osservando la situazione. Risposta secondo me politica che non cambia la situazione di una virgola.

[EK412]

Secondo me a parte utilizzarlo come "leva" nelle discussioni bilaterali con il Qatar (ad esempio quella che hanno avuto a gennaio), non possono inventarsi granche'. Per la mia limitata conoscenza del diritto, mi pare che Air Italy sia pienamente in regola in presenza di un accordo di Open Skies, in quanto compagnia comunitaria, c'e' poco da discutere.

Chi ne capisce di piu' mi contraddica se sbaglio.

[spanna]

si sono incontrati con il qatar a gennaio e non e' successo niente, tra USA e UE c'e' in ballo una guerra commerciale ma l'aviazione mi pare sia rimasta totalmente fuori dalle minacce di trump, quindi alla fine mi sembra che queste pressioni siano piuttosto sterili

[mattaus313]

Il punto è che sono accuse totalmente infondate, IG non vende tratte Qatar-USA anche se penso che potrebbe tranquillamente farlo perché a tutti gli effetti è una compagnia Europea. La cosa bella, è che anche qualora fossero accuse con un fondamento logico penso che finché Al Baker (e Al Thani) fanno la spesa ad Everett si può tranquillamente chiudere un occhio. 5 10 20 voli in più persi da AA a favore di QR (cosa poi tutta da dimostrare) non valgono mezza ala di un aereo venduto al Qatar.

Che poi, proprio perché non vale la pena tirarsi contro Trump in IG (talvolta meno in QR) tengano un profilo basso lo trovo prudente e ragionevole. Sarebbe bene che questi senatori (o aspiranti tali) se devono occuparsi di aviazione prima di far la morale in giro si guardino in casa, che pare abbiano grane ben più grosse.

[Mauz]

Chissà che la grana dei Max non possa essere una carta a favore di IG sul tavolo delle trattative.

Inviato dal mio JSN-L21 utilizzando Tapatalk

[canadian#affairs]

Qatar Airways’ Investment in Air Italy is Fully Compliant with U.S.-Qatar Open Skies Agreement


All agreed Open Skies conditions being met

Airline cross-border investments never raised as a point of concern during negotiations

DOHA, Qatar – Following recent false accusations relating to Qatar Airways’ shareholding in Air Italy, such baseless statements and consistent inaccuracies need addressing as a matter of urgency.

Qatar Airways holds a 49 per cent stake in Air Italy’s parent company, AQA. This minority investment is at the same level that Delta holds in both Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico, and that Etihad held in Alitalia.

Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy, and operations to the United States, are fully compliant with the U.S.-Qatar Open Skies Agreement, the January 2018 U.S.-Qatar Understandings, and a side letter that accompanied the discussions.

Unfounded claims that Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy violates the Understandings are entirely false.

As a factual matter, the investment preceded the January 2018 U.S.-Qatar Understandings.

·         The investment was announced in a July 2016 press release and was approved in writing by the European Commission (DG Competition) in March 2017. 

·         The transaction was closed in September 2017.

·         The discussions surrounding the Understandings took place in December 2017 and January 2018. 

Qatar Airways’ investment in Air Italy was a matter of public knowledge (as were Qatar Airways’ investments in other airlines) at the time of the U.S.-Qatar discussions; airline investments were not raised as a point of concern during those talks. The Understandings do not mention or prohibit cross-border investments of any type.

Furthermore, Qatar Airways does not codeshare on any of Air Italy’s flights to the United States, and has no plans to do so. Qatar Airways is not operating any Fifth Freedom scheduled air services to the U.S.

The “Big 3” U.S. carriers have consistently demonstrated their hostility to new entrants into the U.S.-Europe market, and their attacks on Air Italy based on the identity of its minority shareholder are just another manifestation of this hostility. Air Italy, the carrier the “Big 3” cite as a major “threat” to their survival, has a fleet of just 15 aircraft and only serves one U.S. city – New York – with a daily service while other routes, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco are operated at a lower frequency.

The U.S.-Qatar Open Skies Agreement has brought enormous benefits to U.S. and Qatari consumers, businesses and communities. Qatar Airways’ services to the United States contribute to U.S. tourism and business. Qatar Airways is a long-term and loyal customer of Boeing, Gulfstream and General Electric, helping to secure tens of thousands of U.S. jobs through our continued investment in their products and is a valued partner to many other U.S. businesses.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-r ... s-releases#

[MXP3000]

Ben detto.
Mi sembra che questa dichiarazione smonti tutte le accuse.

[easyMXP]

Le ultime 6 righe spiegano perché il governo americano non stia facendo nulla, nonostante le pressioni dei politici attivati dalle 3 grandi.

[malpensante]

Qatar hits back against criticism from US over Air Italy stake
Apr 12, 2019 Ben Goldstein

Qatar Airways issued a sharp rebuke to what it described as “false accusations” from US lawmakers and the Trump administration, saying that its investment in Air Italy is “fully compliant” with the US-Qatar Open Skies Agreement, as well as the January 2018 US-Qatar Understandings and an accompanying side-letter.

The Gulf carrier, in a statement posted on its website, pointed out that its 49% stake in the Italian carrier “is the same level that Delta holds in both Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico, and that Etihad held in Alitalia.”

“The ‘Big 3’ US carriers have consistently demonstrated their hostility to new entrants into the US-Europe market, and their attacks on Air Italy based on the identity of its minority shareholder are just another manifestation of this hostility,” the airline wrote. “Air Italy, the carrier the ‘Big 3’ cite as a major ‘threat’ to their survival, has a fleet of just 15 aircraft and only serves one US city—New York—with a daily service while other routes, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco are operated at a lower frequency.”

The January 2018 agreement reiterated that the Gulf carriers had no “current” plans to add new fifth-freedom flights, although documents that detail the agreements did not include such language. Fifth-freedom flying is permitted under Open Skies deals in place between the US and Qatar.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), during an April 11 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, alleged that Qatar had misled US negotiators regarding their intentions to launch fifth freedom flights to the US “at the same time” the January 2018 agreement was being negotiated.

That allegation was directly disputed by Qatar, which wrote that the investment in Air Italy “was a matter of public knowledge” at the time of the negotiations. To bolster its case, the airline provided a timeline showing it announced the investment in July 2016, well before the negotiations with the US began. The transaction closed in September 2017.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) asked US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who was attending the hearing as a witness, whether the administration planned to invoke a provision to the agreement that would call for formal consultations between the US and Qatar to work through the dispute.

Pompeo, in response, told Isakson “I don’t know if we’re quite there yet,” adding that “there are a lot of consultations taking place, but not through the mechanism you’re describing.”

“We thought we had put together a truly good deal that was good for US domestic businesses and that honored the commitment we had taken previously ... We’re looking very closely at this recent decision by Qatar to take on 49% in this airline. We understand the risk of the efforts to circumvent [the US-Qatar Understanding], and we look forward to making sure all parties comply with this agreement,” Pompeo said.

Ben Goldstein, Ben.Goldstein@aviationweek.com

https://atwonline.com/open-skies/qatar- ... d67f06d942

[EK412]

Jetblue, FedEx ed Atlas Air si schierano contro le Big 3 in una lettera indirizzata al segretario di Stato e al segretario ai trasporti.

https://kfgo.com/news/articles/2019/apr ... -airlines/

[I-Alex]

PRESS RELEASE

Dichiarazione di Air Italy sulle accuse di Delta, United e American Airlines

 
American Airlines, Delta e United hanno intrapreso una lunga guerra contro i loro concorrenti in Medio Oriente. Lo scorso anno, una volta risolte queste controversie, le tre compagnie aeree americane hanno deciso di rivolgere la loro attenzione verso Air Italy, sostenendo che essa rappresenti in qualche modo una minaccia per i posti di lavoro americani e per lo stato di salute dell'industria del trasporto aereo statunitense. Riteniamo pertanto necessario presentarci e mettere le cose in chiaro.
Air Italy è una compagnia aerea registrata in Italia e con sede in Italia. Voliamo da 56 anni (in precedenza eravamo conosciuti come Meridiana) e abbiamo servito gli Stati Uniti per molti anni. I nostri azionisti sono Alisarda, che detiene il 51% delle nostre azioni, e Qatar Airways, con una quota del 49%. Il nostro assetto proprietario è stato visto e approvato dall'Autorità per l'Aviazione Civile Italiana, ENAC e dalla Commissione Europea.
Ad oggi disponiamo di una flotta di 13 aeromobili, cinque dei quali sono in grado di operare sul lungo raggio. Nel sentirci orgogliosi del nostro talento e del nostro servizio di altissimo livello, siamo al contempo perplessi (seppur leggermente lusingati) dal fatto che i tre più grandi vettori statunitensi, che gestiscono una flotta di oltre 2.500 aeromobili, sostengano di essere minacciati da noi.
Voliamo da Milano direttamente su quattro aeroporti degli Stati Uniti: New York, Miami, Los Angeles e San Francisco. Abbiamo offerto voli diretti sull’aeroporto internazionale JFK di New York per molti anni, e da circa un anno abbiamo introdotto una nuova importante alternativa sulla rotta Milano-Miami, che serviamo cinque volte alla settimana.
Abbiamo anche appena lanciato gli unici voli diretti esistenti fra Milano, San Francisco e Los Angeles, dove ci è stata riservata un’accoglienza davvero calorosa in occasione delle cerimonie inaugurali. Serviamo queste città con quattro voli settimanali, fornendo un importante collegamento tra le capitali dell’alta tecnologia, della moda e dell’intrattenimento italiane e statunitensi.
Qatar Airways, che ha annunciato l'ingresso nella nostra compagnia nel 2016, perfezionandolo nel 2017 con l’acquisizione di una quota di minoranza, non opera in code-share sulle nostre linee USA-Italia.
I maggiori vettori statunitensi (e i loro alleati) controllano circa il 90% di tutto il traffico transatlantico. Se una qualsiasi di queste tre compagnie aeree statunitensi credesse sinceramente che la nostra piccola quota del "loro" mercato sia una minaccia, che non dovremmo servire gli Stati Uniti o avere la licenza di vettore italiano, allora dovrebbe indirizzare il proprio reclamo all'ENAC e alla Commissione Europea.
Siamo orgogliosi di servire il mercato statunitense con un nuovo brand e una nuova livrea, offrendo ai passeggeri un'alternativa di viaggio economica, divertente e di alta qualità.

Vi invitiamo a Immaginare il Mondo Diversamente (“Imagine The World Differently”) prenotando su airitaly.com
URL : http://press.airitaly.com/dichiarazione ... -airlines/
 

[Mattia]

Standing ovation

[romaneeconti]

vediamo se sulla stampa verra' dato conto di cio'...

[malpensante]

Ci sono metodi che funzionano per ottenere attenzione dai giornali.