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### Vvvvvv.utiiOCHAMBER.COM

Tom Zaino

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# s 10-150515-009 May 8, 2015

The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx Secretary of Transportation US Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave SE Washington, DC 20590

The Honorable Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce US Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20230 The Honorable John F

. Kerry Secretary of State US Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Foxx, Secretary Kerry and Secretary Pritzker,
On behalf of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and our over 8,000 statewide business members we want to bring your attention to the market-distorting actions of the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that
are undermining Open Skies policy. By opening consultat ions, which we urge you to do, with the two Gulf States, we can prevent further erosion of Open Skies and protect thousands of high quality U.S. jobs and our current economic recovery.

In d

. irect violation of Open Skies policy, since the early 2000's Qatar and the UAE have funneled at least $42 billion dollars' wo rth of subsidies and other massive handouts into three state-owned airlines. These carriers have taken advantage of a massively uneven playing field to drive their U.S. competitors out of international routes by dramatically expanding their fleets and lowering their fares to the point that they are actually losing money while t hey expand. If allowed to continue, this will lead to the d isa ppearance of thousands of American jobs, not just in aviation, but i n t he many industries that support or are connected to air travel. In fact, airline industry experts estimate that every i[lternational roundtrip flight lost by a U.S. airline results in

. a net loss of over 800 well-paying joqs.

The open Skies policy has brought innum er(!ble benefits to the state of Ohio and the U.S. economy as a whole. Howeve r, Qatar and the UAE and their three state-owned airlines are threatening the competitive environment created by the Open**Ski~~ iJg~e~ments**  and the all**he** advantages that they bring to U.S. companies and consumers .' Therefore, we are requesting that tlie U.S. government open consultations with Qatar and the UAE so that this uneven

### playi~g field

### ca**~d, ~r~?sed,**  and req uest a freeze

### o~ new capacity from t he I

. . • ' ' ·' " I ' ,

_ , .. . , Guff carriers 'while the negotiations go forward.

. . . .

Sincerely,

# ~ Andrew E. Doehre_l, President 

### & CEO Ohio chamber of Commerce

# OHIO CHAMBER

OF CO MM ERCE UNITING BUSINESS. IMPROVING OHIO. P

.O. BOX 151 59 COLUMBUS, OH 43215-0159



# s 10-150515-009 COLUt·1BU5 OH 

### 431

08 M.AY 2015**F~~** 

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The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx Secretary of Transportation US Department of Tra nspor tat ion 1200 New Jersey Ave SE Washington, DC 20590



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