Meehan, Gerlach Join Airlines, Labor for Rally to Protect American Air Carrier Jobs

Lawmakers joined by ALPA President, Airlines 4 America CEO,

Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA International President

PHILADELPHIA, PA– Congressman Patrick Meehan (PA-7) and Congressman Jim Gerlach (PA-6) joined senior leadership from aviation industry stakeholder groups across the county today to oppose the creation of a Customs Pre-Clearance Facility in Abu Dhabi that will give a competitive advantage to a foreign state-owned airline.

Nick Calio, President of Airlines for America, Capt. Lee Moak, President of Airline Pilots Association International, and Veda Shook, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, joined the lawmakers at Philadelphia International Airport to support H.R. 3488, legislation that prevents the opening of the Abu Dhabi customs facility.

“A pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi will give a foreign, state-owned airline a competitive edge over U.S. airlines as customers traveling to America from the Middle East and Asia route themselves through Abu Dhabi to avoid the lines at customs in the United States,” said Congressman Meehan. “This policy steers travelers away from US carriers towards a foreign-owned airline, and we’re using American tax dollars to do it.A pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi will threaten American jobs and is little more than a taxpayer-funded handout to a foreign airline owned by the United Arab Emirates,” Meehan said.

"This is another example of the executive branch making unilateral decisions without considering how their actions affect jobs and the American families those jobs support," Rep. Gerlach said. "I look forward to working with Congressman Meehan to stop this pre-clearance facility and protect American jobs."

“The misguided Abu Dhabi deal is a prime example of our government providing foreign carriers with a competitive advantage over U.S. airlines in the marketplace,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “We applaud Rep. Meehan for his leadership to ensure our government is not tilting the competitive playing field against U.S. airlines and their passengers, in favor of our foreign competitors.”

“A customs preclearance site at Abu Dhabi not only hands a state-owned Middle Eastern airline a US taxpayer-financed powerful economic advantage in competing against U.S. airlines in the global marketplace, it also drains money that would be better used to improve customs facilities at major US airports,” said ALPA President Capt. Lee Moak. “Why are American taxpayer dollars being spent on a pre-clearance facility at a foreign airport to which no US air carriers fly?”

"The Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility would be the start of a slippery slope, creating a global system where only wealthy foreign airlines would be able to participate,” said Veda Shook, International President, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “It would benefit few US citizens and  put U.S. airlines at an extreme competitive disadvantage. Pre-clearance should not be a vehicle to put U.S. air carriers and U.S. airline jobs at risk by exclusively advantaging a foreign competitor."

H.R. 3488 was introduced by Meehan and co-sponsored by Rep. Gerlach. It has more than 125 co-sponsors from both parties.