The Hill: Durbin sides with airlines in Open Skies dispute
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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is pushing the Obama administration to wade into a dispute over foreign airline subsidies that has roiled the U.S. aviation industry.Unions that represent parts of the U.S. airline industry have alleged Middle Eastern airlines like Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines have received more than $42 billion in subsidies since 2004.
Durbin said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx that the Obama administration should investigate the subsidies because U.S. airlines say the payments violate the spirit of the Open Skies agreements between the U.S. and the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which own the airlines.”