After months of ALPA’s efforts in lobbying and educating
U.S. regulators about the negative effect of cabotage, the
Department of Transportation on Monday reversed a decision
made last year by the Bush administration that allowed a
series of charter flights by Air Canada to provide
transportation for the National Hockey League’s Boston
Bruins during the 2008–2009 season. That decision opened the
door to additional contracts the carrier has secured since
with the Milwaukee Bucks and the St. Louis Blues.
“When it comes to fighting cabotage, ALPA scored a hat
trick with this DOT decision,” said Capt. Paul Rice, ALPA’s
first vice president. “After basically getting stonewalled
by the Bush administration, we kept in the game by engaging
the new administration on this issue, and working with the
AFL-CIO and the TTD, as well as the major U.S. airline trade
associations—ATA and NACA—to put a stop to this blatant
violation of the U.S. code.”
The department’s investigation into this matter found
that Air Canada carried cabotage traffic on these charter
operations, concluding that in light of “the inherently
variable nature of a sports team’s personnel during a
season, there appears to be no practical means to ensure
that there would not be carriage of U.S. domestic-only
traffic during any season-long contract.” The
letter, which DOT sent to Air Canada’s regulatory lawyer
on Monday, went on to state: “We do not see any way in which
Air Canada can continue to market and operate season-long
charter contracts in the future for sports teams,” and
advises the carrier “to take steps to cancel any such
current contracts.”
ALPA began to work on overturning DOT’s decision to
permit Air Canada to carry the Bruins immediately after the
department issued it last year. ALPA then teamed up with
industry partners to build the argument for the DOT that the
charter flights—which at one point included 18 consecutive
segments between U.S. cities over a two month
period—directly violated U.S. Code Title 49. The Association
also engaged congressmen, including Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.),
who urged the DOT to revisit its decision on this matter.
“ALPA brought it to the Obama administration’s attention,
and the DOT started an investigation,” Rice said. “While the
investigation is still under way, this letter proves that we
were right. It shows how your union protects your flying and
works to reverse bad decisions that could set devastating
precedents for undermining laws that every country and every
airline should adhere to and respect.” |
