Saudis Sock It to Us for Mail to GIs
The Postal Service was unable to persuade Saudi Arabia’s national airline to waive international mail rates in favor of the lower fees charged by U.S. carriers for carrying mail to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, a postal official said.
James E. Orlando, head of international services for the Postal Service, said Saudi Arabian Airlines charged nearly $1.9 million to deliver about 1.05 million pounds of mail to Desert Shield troops from Sept. 1 to Oct. 17.
Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.) sent a letter of protest to the Saudi ambassador and the postmaster general, saying that was too much to pay.
Orlando said the charge is reasonable in that it complies with rates set by the Universal Postal Union, an international group of postal administrators.
But he noted the Saudis declined a Postal Service request that the airline instead charge the rates set by the Department of Transportation for U.S. carriers. The UPU rates are about 2 1/2 times higher than the U.S. rates.
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