Global Airlines

I ended up doing additional research on a previous post regarding global airlines and competition. I started by researching the competition between the foreign airlines and the domestic American airlines. I examined my previous post and revisited the topic taking into consideration new information and input from the in class discussion following the prior assignment. I also examined the recent merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways and the impact it will have on a global level.

The domestic American airlines (including American Airlines) have long claimed to be unfairly treated by the U.S. government. They claim that some foreign airlines receive government support which provides them with an advantage on a global level.

They are currently lobbying the government for renegotiated international agreements which govern foreign airspace. These agreements attempt to eliminate government interference and allow domestic American airlines to compete with foreign airlines without as many restrictions. This comes in response to reports that foreign airlines are receiving government subsidies while domestic American airlines are not. This is not completely true.

There are reports that claim the domestic American airlines have received government subsidies as well. The latest report was 150 billion dollars over the last one hundred years (Arnold 2015).

American Airlines has lead most of the arguments against the U.S. government and the open skies agreement. They claim that the report does not account for what the money was spent on (they claim around 140 million was spent on a trust fund that supported Federal Aviation Administration spending).

They also claim that American based airlines have contributed money (around 10 million annually) including both American Airlines and United Airlines (Reed 2015).

American domestic based airlines still rule on a global level despite the recent success of the global airlines. This has not supported their argument.

American Airlines is now the largest airline following the recent merger. This allows them to compete even more on a global level (Rapoza 2015). This merger went through similar questions regarding competition and fairness that are currently being discussed regarding the open skies agreement.

I think that the competition between foreign airlines and the domestic American airlines is fair. They both have received support that have allowed them to compete and provided advantages on a global level.

This is a change from my previous post where I argued that the competition was unfair due to support received by foreign airlines. Through additional research I was able to supplement my knowledge and reach a new conclusion. The in class discussion prompted me to relook at this topic in an attempt to find new information and gain a better understanding. They both have received support (in different forms) that have allowed them to compete and provided advantages on a global level.

Arnold M. (2015 June 23). American Air CEO says GovernmentShould Address Subsidy Spat. Retrieved December 10 2015.

Rapoza K. (2015 May 24). American Airlines May Stand Alone inFight. Retrieved December 11 2015.

Reed T. (2015 April 14). U.S. Airlines have paid theGovernment Billions. Retrieved December 10 2015.