Skift Take
A long-simmering fight over Open Skies is boiling over again and is dividing the U.S. airline industry. The U.S. major carriers say Air Italy is a Trojan horse for Qatar Airways to expand in the U.S. JetBlue and the cargo carriers argue changing the rules of the game now would invite retaliation.
After simmering on a back burner for more than a year, the fight between the U.S. major carriers and the Persian Gulf airlines is heating up again, this time over Air Italy’s new routes to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Milan.
But why should Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines care about a European airline flying from Italy to the U.S.?
After all, the U.S. has an Open Skies agreement with the EU, which allows any U.S. airline to fly anywhere in Europe, and any European airline to fly anywhere in the U.S. The U.S. airlines and their unions, through their lobbying group the Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, claim Air Italy is a proxy for Qatar Airways’ expansion in the U.S. and is not legitimately a European carrier. Qatar Airways owns a 49 percent stake in Air Italy. Qatar vehemently denies the claim that Air Italy is its proxy, stating its investment in Air Italy predates the 2018 agreement and is compliant with the terms of the deal.
And several U.S. carriers agree with Qatar. A coalition led by JetBlue Airways, cargo operator Atlas Air, and FedEx — which oper
