Today, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies announced that Jill Zuckman, former Assistant to the Secretary and Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Transportation, will serve as chief spokesman for the group. The coalition, a partnership of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and four labor unions, is dedicated to restoring a level playing field to international air travel and has asked the Obama Administration to open consultations under the Open Skies agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“The governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are subsidizing their state-owned airlines by a staggering amount of money,” said Jill Zuckman. “As the CEOs of Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airline arrive in Washington this week, they have a lot of explaining to do. They need to explain how it is they have received more than $42 billion in subsidies and other unfair benefits from their governments over the past 10 years. And they need to open their books since they say they have nothing to hide. Open Skies is based on fair, market-based competition – not a rigged game.”

Before her tenure as a senior advisor to Secretary Ray LaHood, Zuckman was an award winning political correspondent for The Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe. She is currently Managing Director at SKDKnickerbocker, a public affairs firm.