Three of the nation’s biggest airlines — Delta, American and United — have been pressing the U.S. government to freeze new flights from three Middle Eastern carriers that they say compete unfairly in the U.S. by accepting subsidies from their government-backed owners.
But the State Department has decided against adopting restrictions on Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways. Instead, the Obama administration will talk through the issue this summer with government officials in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The decision, which hasn’t been confirmed publicly, was first reported by Politico.
Already, opponents of restrictions on the Middle Eastern carriers are applauding the federal agency for refusing to impose restrictions on the foreign carriers.
Foreign-based carriers fly to the U.S. under an aviation policy known as Open Skies, which tries to remove government interference on passenger and cargo flights.
The U.S. Travel Association, a trade group for the nation’s travel industry, said the decision by the State Department is “good for the economy, good for American jobs and good for travelers both here and abroad.”
The three Middle Eastern carriers combined to carry 1.5 million travelers in the first three months of the year, or 3 percent of all international travelers in and out of the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
But Delta, American and United and their allies also are calling the decision to hold face-to-face discussions a victory.
“We have confidence our government is on the right path to address the harm caused by these massive subsidies,” said Jill Zuckman, spokeswoman for the airlines and their allies, called Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.
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STARWOOD EXPANDS KEYLESS HOTEL DOORS
The keyless experiment was a success. That is the only conclusion to be drawn from the announcement that Starwood Hotels and Resorts is expanding the use of technology that lets guests use their smartphones to open their hotel doors.
Connecticut-based Starwood tested the technology at 10 hotels in 2014 and has now expanded it to 130 hotels and resorts in 30 countries. The hotel company said last week that it was installing the technology in select Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton and Four Points properties over the next few months.
To open a hotel room using this technology, guests must be enrolled in the Starwood loyalty program and must download the Starwood Preferred Guest app.
Already 350,000 loyalty reward members have registered to use the keyless feature, Starwood said, and the feature is being used most often at its hotels in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Miami.
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