### CITY OF ATLANTA
KASIM REED 55 TR IN ITY AVENUE , S.W., S UIT E 2400 AT LANTA, GEORGIA 30303-0300 MAYOR

T h e Hon o rabl e A nthon y R. Foxx Secretary of Transportation U.S. D e partment of T ran s portati o n 1200 New Jer sey Ave, S.E. Wa s hington , D. C. 20590 The Honorabl e J o hn F. Kerry Sec r e tary of State U.S. Departm e nt of State 22 01 C Street , N.W
. Washington, D.C. 20520 T h e Honorabl e Penny Prit zke r U.S. D e p a rtm e nt o f Co mmerce 1401 Co n s tituti o n Ave
.. N.W
. Washington. D.C. 20230 TEL 1 4041 330-6100
May 1 2.20 1 5

Dear Secretaries Foxx. Kerry a nd Pritzk e r : I a m w ritin g to exp ress m y co n ce rn s regard in g th e rece nt repo rt s that gove rnm e nt s ub s idi es provided b y th e gove rnm e nt s of Qa t ar a nd th e U nit ed Arab E mirat es ( "UAE" ) to th e ir three s tat e -owned G ulf a irline s - Qatar Airways. Et ihad A irways a nd E mirate s A irlin e- a re v iolating the Open Sk ie s ag ree m e nt s eac h govern m e nt h as w ith the U nit ed States. I h ave we lcom ed the cargo operations of E mir ates SkyCa rgo and Qa ta r Ai r ways to H a rt s fi e ld-J ackso n Atlanta Int e rn at ion a l Airport ("Hartsfield-Jackson"). H owever. th ese airlines mu st operate at Hartsfi e ld-Ja ckso n in acco rdan ce w ith th e poli c ies contained in th e Open Sk ie s agree m e nt s. I ha ve learned th a t A m e ri can Airline s . Delta A ir Line s and U nit ed Airlines. as we ll as th e l a r gest union s in the a irlin e indu st ry, a nn o un ce d a partner s hi p to e n co urage t he U.S
. gove rnm e nt to leve l th e play in g fi e ld for fair co mp e tition w ith the governme nt- s ub s idi ze d , state
- ow ned a irlines of Qatar and th e UAE. W hil e I e ncourage i nte rn a ti o n a l a irlin es to bring their fli g ht s, passengers a nd ca rgo t o At l a nt a, I a m co n ce rn ed o f repo rt s th a t some int e rn a tional a irlin es m ay h ave r eceived unfair gove rnm e nt s ub s idi es and benefit s .



# s 10-150519-045The Hon o r a bl e Anthony R. Foxx The Honorable J ohn F. Kerr y The Hon o rabl e P e nn y Pritzker May 12 ,2015 Page 2
Accord in g to th e J a nuary 28 , 2015 w hit e pa pe r e ntitl ed
...Res t o rin g Open Sk ies: The Need t o Add r ess Subsidized Compet iti on fr o m S ta t e-Owned A ir lines in Qatar and the UAE,' " Qata r A irwa ys, Et ihad Airway s and Em irates A irlin e are f u

e led by ma ss ive s ub s idi es . As d eta il ed in the w hit e paper, it is believed that th e s tate-owned Gulf a irlin es have collect ive l y recei ved at least $42 billion dollars in governmen t s ub s idi es a nd o th e r unfair benefits o ver the last ten yea rs . As yo u know , our U.S
. airline s do not rec e ive go ve rnm e nt s ub s id ies. The s ta t e - owned Gu lf air lin es ha ve been ex pa ndin g at a r ap id pace in order to div e rt tra ffic thr o ugh th e ir own hu bs. Thi s rout e s tru cture is no t refl ec ti ve of s uppl y and demand betwee n t h e United States and Qatar a nd UAE. In stea d. th e Gu lf airl ines appea r to be taking advantage of unlimite d funding of the a v iati o n sec t o rs in Qa tar and the U AE and are g ro wi n g at unprecede nt ed and astounding rate s. Our U.S
. ca rri e rs s trongly bel ieve their mark e t s hares a nd re ve nu es a re at ri s k in light of this u nprecedented expa n s io n. If the subs idies ou tlin ed in the whi t e pap e r have in fact bee n pro v id ed, the re s u lt i ng unfa ir competition wo uld threat e n the ai rline r outes a nd job s th at w e depend on in A tl a nt a and ac r oss th e count r y . Eco n omic development s trategie s pur s ued throu g h su b s idi es co ntrad i c t Open Skies polic y, which i s predic ate d o n fair competitio n. Open S kie s p o li c i es have a ll owed fo r g reater access a nd g rowt h of the av iat ion indu s try in th e Unite d Sta tes. to th e benefit of U
. S. tra ve le rs a nd th e U.S
. eco no m y . The tact ics b y the Gulf a irlin es a nd th e ir s t a t

e s pon so r s outlined in th e w hit e pap e r c r

ea te an un eve n playing field contra ry t o th e Open Sk ies po lic y deve l oped by the United States. If unf a ir comp etition is pe rmitted in co ntr a di c ti o n to th e c urr e nt Open Skies policy, se rv ice to a ll U.S
. com muniti es w ill s uf fer as o ur domestic a irlin es are forced to c urt a il fl ig ht s. If U.S. a irlin es are pushed off of inte rn a ti o na l r o ut es a nd lo se market s hare to t he gove rnm e ntow ned Gulf air lin es, it w ill m ean A m e ri can j ob losses . lt i s es timated that eve ry in ternational r o undtrip flight that is lost b y a U .S. a irli ne r es ult s in an ave rage n et loss of over 800 U
. S. j o b s . includin g p il ots, fli g ht a tt e nd ant s . mainte nance wo rkers . baggage crew . ticket in g age nt s and oth e r s th a t ar e in vo l ved in a s in g le ove r seas r o ut e . It i s the se aviat i o n indu st ry wor ke r s a nd th ose imp acted throughout the co mmunity w ho se li ve lih oods depe nd o n a health y U .S. airlin e indu s try . Th e r efo r e. I ask yo u to ope n co n s ult at ion s w ith Qa tar and th e UAE, and put a freeze o n a ny new capac it y until thi s i ss ue can be reso l ved
. T he U
. S. Open Sk ies p o licy has se rved th e citizens of A tl anta we ll. Pl ease h e lp to keep a ll Open S ki es agree me nt s ope n and fa ir b y ad dre ss in g a ny s ub s idi es that may have be e n provid e d to th ese three a irlin es.



# s 10-150519-045CITY OF ATLANTA KASIM REED MAYOR 55 TRINITY AVENUE. S.W
. ATLA N TA. GEORGIA 30303.0300



# s 1 0-150519-045 The llon ora ble An th ony R. Foxx Secre t ary ofT r ansportat io n U.S. Department o fTr a n spo rt ati on 120 0 New .I ersey Ave. S. E
. Washi ngton, D.C. 20590