As they battle rapid U.S. expansion by the subsidized Middle East airlines, the three U.S. global airlines have made it clear they have just one principal goal: They want Emirates, Etihad and Qatar to be kept from operating fifth freedom flights.
Fifth freedom flights allow airlines to fly between two foreign countries.
Emirates on Monday said it would begin Athens-Newark flights on March 12. Emirates already operates Milan to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the only other fifth freedom flight operated by a Middle East carrier.
United Airlines (UAL) already flies Newark-Athens as a seasonal flight with a Boeing 767-300ER scheduled to operate between May 24 and early October.
"By flagrantly violating its Open Skies agreement with the United States at the start of the Trump administration, Emirates is throwing down the gauntlet," said Jill Zuckman, chief spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies.
"We look forward to working with President Trump and his team to enforce these agreements and protect American jobs -- something that the Obama administration failed to do," Zuckman said.
Government subsidies to Emirates, Etihad and Qatar have exceeded $50 billion, the partnership said. U.S. carriers, operated for profit, said the subsidies make it tough to compete.
Donald Trump, U.S. president, met with labor leaders from the building trades on Monday night but not with any from the transportation trades. Backing U.S. workers and staunching the flow of U.S. jobs to offshore companies were key themes for the Trump campaign.
Twelve days ago, during the Delta (DAL) earnings call, CEO Ed Bastian was asked what changes he expects to see during the Trump administration.
"We are very excited about the opportunities to present our case relative to the Middle Eastern situation with all the growth that those carriers have brought to this country on a subsidized basis where we are competing against governments, not the other airlines and {about} the opportunity to let the Trump administration know how we can do, as an industry, a better job of protecting U.S. jobs and U.S. opportunities going forward," Bastian said.
Delta also wants Trump to know how the airline industry can do better at "protecting trade deals and enforcing trade deals that are being violated in the present time," Bastian said.
