## Greater Atlanta Malayalee Association

Mar 26, 2015. The Honorable John F. Kerry P.O

. BOX 49033 2, Lawrenceville, GA 30043 www.gamaonline.org

US Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520 The Honorable Penny S

. Pritzker U.S

. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington , DC 20239 The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx U

.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue , SE Washington , DC 20590 Subject: Community Organization supports U.S. Open Skies Agreements Dear Secretaries Kerry, Pritzker, and Foxx, On behalf of the Greater Atlanta Malayalee Association (GAMA) along with othe r south Indian communities in and around Georgia , I am writing to express our strong support to the current U

.S. international aviation policy, which focuses on Open Skies agreements

. From recent deliberations exposed by the media , it came to our attention that the widely beneficial Open Skies policy is under attack and as a community organization we want to express our strong support to this policy. Open Skies policy provides flexibility for the ai rlines to design the ir routes and service based on traveler needs which provides convenient routes and schedules all across the globe

. It also provides better aircrafts , better fares and better service to passengers
. A vast majority of Indian-Americans living in and around Georgia have business relations with India and they also have extended family-ties back in India. Due to these unique reasons we frequently travel international ly. At th is time when US carriers are merging each other reducing competition and offering poor service to the customers, the Open Skies policy bring forth competition which provides convenient international flight schedules and better service to passengers across US

.

Pag e 1 of 2

### ..J!'"®'''··



# (~ **1,** Greater Atlanta Malaya lee Association
P

. O. BOX 490332 , Lawrencevil le, GA 30043 www. gamaonlin e. org We , the people in Georgia are further more affected by lack of competition due to the monopo ly of one of the 3 mainline carriers , based of Atlanta , who are lobbying against the 3 gulf airlines

. To fly across Atlantic , most often , the only option for us is to fly domestic to other international airports in cities like Dallas , Houston, Miami , Washington DC , Chicago , Philadelphia , Boston or New York , costing us the additional expense and time due to the long lay-over in those connecting cities in USA As the Open Skies policy is the only hope for the betterment of our traveling needs by bringing competition and better a i rcrafts to Atlanta, we the community in and around Georgia strongly supports Open Skies and hopes that US will continue to support it. Limiting the Open Skies policy will significantly decrease and or cease to exist certain benefits that we all enjoy while travelling overseas
. It will also be a significant impact to numerous ai rports and other businesses that not only related to travel but also other arenas
. Sincerely,



# ~~ **j!** Jerish Augustine President, Greater Atlanta Malayalee Association (GAMA) , 404

-425

-9974 pres ident@gamaonline

.org Copies to U.S. Department of State: Thomas Engle , Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs , Stephen Cristina , Director, Office of Aviation Negotiations Matthew Finston, Deputy Director, Office ofAviation Negotiations Copies to U.S. Department Commerce: Ted Dean , Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services Eugene Alford , Air Transport Specialist Copies to U.S. Department of Transportation Susan Kurland, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Brandon Belfo rd , Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Susan McDermott, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Paul G r etch , Director, Office of International Aviation Brian Hedberg , Assistant Director for Negotiations , Office of International Aviation P

age 2 of 2