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Airline Pilots Meet
With Senate Banking Committee On Ex–Im Bank Reauthorization By Jim Douglas |
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April 20, 2012 - Airline pilots from across the nation
representing the Air Line Pilots Association,
International (ALPA) and the Allied Pilots Association
(APA) took to Capitol Hill to attend a U.S. Senate
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on
the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank of the
United States.
The pilots delivered letters to members of the committee
highlighting airline industry workers’ concerns about
the subsidies the Ex–Im Bank provides to foreign
airlines that put U.S. airlines at a disadvantage in the
global marketplace and threaten thousands of U.S.
airline employees’ jobs.
“Airline pilots and thousands of airline industry
employees across the country need the U.S. Congress to
seize the opportunity presented by the Ex–Im Bank
reauthorization to protect U.S. workers and their jobs,”
said Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l (ALPA). ALPA also placed an
advertisement underscoring pilots’ concerns.
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This
financing is provided at rates that are not available to U.S.
airlines, and many of these Bank-subsidized aircraft are being
used on routes that are, have been, or could be served by U.S.
airlines. U.S. carriers have found that they have needed to
withdraw from or not enter routes that might otherwise be
economically viable, costing airline workers’ jobs.
When
determining whether to provide assistance to foreign purchasers
of U.S. exports, the Bank is required to give full consideration
to any serious adverse effect of the possible financing on the
competitive position of U.S. industry and employment.
In spite
of this clear statutory command, the Bank has decided that it
need not undertake an economic-harm assessment in connection
with providing financing for aircraft purchases, even though
aircraft financing represents more than 40 percent of all Bank
financing.
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