The World Airline Body has called for the government to remove restrictions on air travel, claiming that it would be detrimental to growth.
The h.r. 4980 is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on March 15, 2017 by Representative Rick Larsen from Washington state. It would allow airlines to fly planes with fewer people and still be considered a full-service airline.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) wants less travel restrictions and more government handouts.
on October 4, 2021 by Gary Leff
In Boston, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is conducting its annual general meeting. When ousted European airline executives seek a sinecure, they become Director General of the International Air Transport Association.
Before becoming Director General, Alexandre de Juniac was the CEO of Air France–KLM. Willie Walsh, the former CEO of British Airways and parent company IAG, took his position last year after an alleged affair with a subordinate (which he has denied).
Never one to mince words, he said unequivocally what the global aviation business wants.
- There will be less limitations on aviation travel.
- Subsidies from taxpayers
He is completely right in asserting that Covid-19 is ubiquitous, and that travel has no impact on it except in a tiny number of countries where Covid is really nil. I would add that measures should be taken in areas where health-care capacity is at danger, but travel restrictions aren’t among the most effective solutions.
Walsh, on the other hand, goes a step farther and demands that any vaccine authorized by the World Health Organization be recognized worldwide (Sinovac Coronavac!). He wants no limitations for those who have been vaccinated, antigen tests for those who have not been vaccinated, and taxpayers to pay for testing rather than passengers.
His argument that airports should not attempt to charge airlines extra to compensate for their pandemic losses maintains the idea that the government should pick up the bill for everything. He prefers to plunder taxpayer wallets above user fees. He thinks that when airports are controlled by governments, such as in the United States,
It is the government’s property. Airports should be forced to go to their shareholders for more stock or the debt market for additional financing, just as airlines do.
Airports in the United States, of course, received numerous bailouts, some of which were many times their yearly budgets. Dallas – Fort Worth does, in fact, have a stronger financial position than American Airlines.
Walsh points out that during the epidemic, governments across the globe provided $243 billion in aid to airlines ($79 billion went directly to US airlines, although this does not include airports or contrators). However, he argues that a third was for ‘payroll support,’ which in fact was mainly for stockholders and creditors in the United States, and that $110 billion was for loans. The arrogance of not making everything a freebie!
IATA, the world’s airline lobbying organization, seeks less travel restrictions and greater government funding. It’s in their own interests when they’re right on the merits, and when they’re wrong on the merits, it’s because they’re pursuing their own interests. And no one does it more openly than current IATA President Willie Walsh.
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