Aviation groups seek deferment of open skies for 15 years

Aviation groups are pushing for a 15-year postponement of the RP-US open skies agreement to enable the local airline industry to recover from the bleak world economy and the travel slack caused by Sept. 11, the SARS scare and the Iraq war.

Robert Lim Joseph, president of the Save Our Skies (SOS) Move-ment, said they are supporting the government’s move to put off the implementation of the RP-US Air Transport Agreement (ATA) when the two panels meet next month in Manila.

Joseph said the RP-US ATA is stacked in favor of the American carriers that to push through with its implementation in October this year would result in the collapse of the local airline industry and eventually those sectors depen-dent on it.

"The travel and tourism sector will be greatly affected in the event of a collapse in the airline industry as a result of the stiff competition to be offered by the mega carriers of the US," he said.

Under the agreement, Ameri-can airlines have no route restric-tions and have virtually unlimited access rights to the Philippine market, including passenger and cargo traffic between the Philip-pines and third countries.

On the other hand, Philippine carriers will be subject to route and gateway restrictions and market barriers that curtail operational viability and fair access to the US market.

Besides these advantages contained in the RP-US ATA, American carriers get a further boost from state aid and subsidy.

This state aid, which was drawn up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, consists of, among others, $5 billion in cash and loans, $3 billion in security enhancement facility services, state insurance cover to its airline industry for war risks, and $3 billion in emergency wartime support.

Philippine carriers, on the other hand, did not receive any government assistance after Sept. 11, but were instead burdened more with lopsided air agreements like the RP-Singapore and RP-Korea air pacts.

The SOS said the US panel should accommodate the RP panel’s proposal to remove restrictions on routes that may be served by Philippine carriers so as to allow them to operate unlimited destinations from the Philippines via intermediate points to unlimited points in the US.

"With this proposal, we are giving equal footing to Philippine carriers and leveling the playing field," Joseph said.

"Being a partner of long-standing the US government must give the Philippines enough elbow room to grow. With the current state of the world economy, it should not further constrict its (Philippines’) growth and development," he added.

Joseph said the US should not rush the implementation of the open skies agreement since there is even excess capacity on the route.

It was learned that as of March 2003, less than half of seat entitlements under the existing RP-US ATA have been utilized by American airlines due to low demand for travel.