Opinion: Keep Control of Our Airlines

Alaska boasts six times the national per-capita average of pilots. Some pilots transport fuel; some fly floatplanes; some carry supplies to rural communities. While our state's pilots fly children to school and life-saving medical services to those who need help, Alaska's airline pilots also help defend our country through the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program.

The more than 550 professional airline pilots who live in Alaska are proud to fly for carriers such as Alaska Airlines and FedEx Express that participate in the CRAF program and help airlift troops and supplies across the globe in support of our nation's military. However, a new proposal from the Department of Transportation threatens this program and, ultimately, our common defense. It seeks to allow foreign entities, including foreign airlines, to control nearly all commercial aspects of a U.S. airline and sets the stage to leave our nation's defense in the hands of foreign interests.

CRAF airliners play a fundamental role in our military's ability to deploy its forces. Many Alaska pilots are military veterans who worked closely with the CRAF program during their tour. They appreciate from their own experience how important the CRAF program is to our national defense. For example, the program transported 67 percent of all troops and 25 percent of all cargo moved to the Persian Gulf War, as well as 85 percent of the redeployment of troops and 42 percent of cargo from that theater. Our country's efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq make constant use of CRAF and contracted cargo carriers.

The DOT proposal would allow foreign interests to control fleet planning, route structure, pricing and marketing of U.S. air carriers. Given this power, foreign companies could transfer lucrative international flying away from U.S. carriers to their own national carriers. Reducing the long-haul fleet that our fighting men and women count on could be part of a foreign company's business plan. After all, their own bottom line will be what counts, not our front lines.

Also of concern is the fact that the DOT proposal directly contravenes current federal law that limits foreign control. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is a co-sponsor of a bill pending in the House (HB 4542) that would put the airline control rulemaking on hold while Congress reviews the issue and receives additional information from DOT. It currently has more than 180 co-sponsors.

On Feb. 8, the U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee held a hearing on the DOT proposal. Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, voiced pilots' serious concerns about the proposed shift in national policy. Subcommittee members from both parties present at the hearing were nearly unanimous in their objection to the proposal.

In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has introduced S.2135, which would also block the DOT from taking further action without Congressional review. In addition, U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved the Inouye amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill that would prohibit DOT from expending funds for the rule's issuance and implementation.

The Senate is expected to schedule a hearing next month on the DOT's effort to overturn current U.S. policy. Considering the serious consequences that the DOT's proposal holds for U.S. airlines, national defense and jobs, a public hearing in the Senate cannot come soon enough. It is imperative that Congress reasserts its authority and fully debates and decides whether any change to the long-standing law prohibiting foreign control of U.S. airlines is necessary.

There are many reasons to oppose changes to the rules governing control of U.S. airlines: potential high security risks, economic damage, safety concerns, legal overreach and an expedited process that precludes congressional review. But the fact that it jeopardizes and threatens the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program is reason alone to stop this flawed and misguided proposal.

Capt. Craig Huffman is chairman of the Anchorage Council of the Alaska Airlines Unit of the Air Line Pilots Association. Capt. Gary Roeder is chairman of the Anchorage Council of the FedEx Express Unit of the Air Line Pilots Association.

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