US airlines step up campaign against rivals from Middle East

The CEOs of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines met with Secretary of State John Kerry as they stepped up their fight against what they say is unfair competition from the three biggest Middle East airlines.

Kerry is meeting the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, one of the governments accused of unfairly subsidizing Gulf airlines, this weekend in London.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said he didn't know whether Kerry would raise the airline issue.

American, Delta and United Airlines claim that Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have received more than $40 billion in subsidies from their governments since 2004, helping them keep costs and fares artificially low.

Package-delivery giant FedEx worries that if the U.S. takes action against the Middle East carriers, it could lead other countries to retaliate with steps to limit its operations overseas.

JetBlue senior vice president Robert Land said the campaign by the three big U.S. airlines "is merely a thinly veiled attempt to limit competition by a trio that already enjoys unprecedented power domestically and overseas" through partnerships that enjoy immunity from antitrust laws.

American, Delta and United say that after Emirates began service to four U.S. cities, bookings on U.S. airlines and their partners fell 21 percent in Seattle, 14 percent in Washington, 11 percent in Boston, and 8 percent in Dallas.

All the facts are in, and we are looking for speedy action to resolve this threat to American jobs and the U.S. aviation industry.

According to the big U.S. carriers, about three-fourths of the comments supported their position that the government should reopen so-called Open Skies talks with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.