A group of US Airlines is teaming up against American, Delta, and United
A coalition of four US airlines- JetBlue, Hawaiian, Atlas, and FedEX - have spoken out against a request from the legacy carriers, which they refer as the "Big 3," to renegotiate America's respective Open Skies agrements with the UAE and Qatar.
The alliance - known as "US Airlines for Open Skies" (USAOS) - submitted a letter on Monday to the US Government detailing the harm that could be done to their respective businesses, consumers, and the US economy should the government comply with the wishes of the Big 3.
"The Big 3 do not speak for all, or even most, U.S. airlines," Hawaiian CEO and President Mark Dunkerley said in a statement.
"Our coalition believes that the United States should honor its Open Skies commitments, which opens markets for U.S. carriers, promotes competition on international and domestic routes, and facilitates U.S. exports."
In the letter, which was addressed to the secretaries of State, Commerce, and Transportation, USAOS stated its belief that any restrictions placed on the Open Skies agreements with the UAE and Qatar would constitute a violation of the agreement itself.
USAOS also point out that there could be political and national security consequences to restrictions placed Middle Eastern airlines.
"The unilateral actions demanded by the Big 3 likely would provoke retaliation by the UAE and Qatar, encourage other Open Skies partners to take restrictive actions, deter countries from entering into Open Skies agreements with the United States, and raise questions about the United States' commitment to the Open Skies regime," USAOS wrote in the letter.
FedEX currently operates a major sorting facility in the Dubai and 44 flights a week in and out of the emirate.
According to the coalition, both Atlas and FedEX operate support flights for US military operations in the Middle East.
While the large legacy carriers use their own interational flights to feed its domestic routes, smaller airlines such as JetBlue and Hawaiian credit the growing presence of international airlines such as the Middle Eastern three with increasing traffic for its domestic service.
In fact, JetBlue believes Big 3's goal is to roll back the clock on the airline business.