The Hawaii based International Coalition of Tourism Partners endorsed the “Free to Fly Act” filed in Washington DC today by Republican Congressman Brat from Virginia. Juergen Steinmetz, chairman of ICTP said: “We’re excited to endorse the “Free to Travel Act” introduced today by Congressman Brat. It will open new channels of competition and ensures our U.S. airlines industry can compete with the world.”
The updated bill is essentially the same policy the Congressman outlined previously, but has been modified to counter any opposition arguments, thereby ensuring any new foreign-owned U.S. airline subsidiary complies with all U.S. law, including explicit provisions ensuring all employees are American workers to comply with existing U.S. law, and explicit requirements that the airlines are based in the U.S. and are under the day-to-day control of Americans.
Other tweaks made explicitly ensure the airlines are regulated the same as U.S. airlines and would be eligible for the Civil Reserve Air Fleet if the Secretary of Defense signs off. Essentially, the only difference between these new airlines and current airlines is that foreigners could freely invest in them, and current U.S. airlines would benefit from the additional capital.
Read the full article and the original bill on Aviation.travel