Skinner Plan Would Ease Way for Foreign Airlines

Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner proposed Thursday to open up some U.S. cities with little or no international air service to flights by foreign airlines without the usual negotiations.

If the plan is adopted, Skinner said, “many more U.S. cities will have the opportunity to enjoy the economic benefits” of direct international flights.

In a speech at a forum on international aviation, the secretary said the Transportation Department would formally propose the new rules within the next few days. A period for public comment, usually about two months, would follow before the rules would take effect.

Skinner did not detail what cities or routes might be affected.

Analysts said that such cities as Charlotte, N.C., and Tampa, Fla., could be early applicants seeking foreign service.

He said the department has been flooded with letters from governors, members of Congress, mayors and business leaders urging a policy that would open up more international routes from cities where passengers have to make connecting flights to go abroad.

Permission for foreign airlines to fly the routes would be dependent upon having an agreement that would allow U.S. carriers “all the rights our airlines require” within the country where the foreign carrier is based, Skinner said.

Currently, international routes generally are awarded through bilateral negotiations between the United States and other countries on a basis of reciprocity--an airline from each country flies the route.

Under Skinner’s plan, the United States would approve foreign air carrier service between a U.S. city and the carrier’s home country if no other airline served the route, if the United States has no aviation dispute pending with the country and if no U.S. airline or other party raises any “overriding public interest objection” to the flight, the secretary said.

“We stand ready to share our free market competitive concept with any country willing to listen,” Skinner said.

He said the proposal would not replace traditional aviation negotiations. But he said the negotiations process has not worked in cases where U.S. carriers have no immediate plans to serve a route that a foreign carrier is willing to fly.