CBP Facility to be Opened in Abu Dhabi

[Furloughed80]

Still don't think ME carriers are a threat?

April 16, 2013
Fellow ALPA Pilots,
A few weeks ago I wrote to you about our significant ongoing efforts in working with Congress to prohibit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security?s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from establishing a CBP preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
We knew that our work could easily be undone if we didn?t move swiftly and strategically to ensure our victory. As we continued to climb this steep hill, we learned that the administration is nevertheless moving forward with this misguided plan. How does the administration defy the clear intent of Congress? Well, this is Washington. This is hardball. And when you have an efficient and well-funded government like the UAE, almost nothing is impossible.
Today, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi is in Washington, D.C., to meet with the president of the United States. On the agenda: the development of the Customs and Border Protection preclearance facility. If that isn?t enough, the facility will be paid for with a mix of U.S. taxpayer dollars and funds from the UAE under a vague fee-reimbursement program. Talk about a stretch.
The administration claims they are proceeding with the facility in the interest of ?national security.? The United States is ?pushing out its borders,? they said to us. What does this mean for us? Once again, sound aviation policy is traded away for something else?in this case, giving an allied nation in the Gulf a significant economic boost to their state-owned airline.
We?ve seen this trade-off playbook before with the continued tax burden imposed on U.S. airlines and wide-body aircraft financing at favorable rates to our competitors by the Export-Import Bank. The establishment of a preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi is one more action that puts U.S. airlines at a disadvantage to its international competitors.
ALPA, individual airlines, Airlines for America, Regional Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO?s Transportation Trades Department, Airports Council International-North America, the Global Business Travel Association, and Consumer Travel Alliance have all spoken out?with one voice?in opposition to the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility.
To all of us, the concept of building a facility and staffing it with U.S. workers in a foreign country where no U.S. airline flies is baffling. However, the visit by the crown prince indicates that this concept is one step closer to becoming reality.
Your union is not giving up on this fight. We should not hand one of the fastest-growing international airlines in the world, Etihad Airways, the ability to offer its passengers the convenience of clearing U.S. Customs and Immigration while still in the UAE. This gives them a significant competitive advantage over U.S. airlines in attracting customers seeking to fly from Asia or the Middle East to the United States. And, if the administration is ultimately successful in opening this facility in Abu Dhabi, we can anticipate them doing the same in Dubai, Qatar, Jordan, and other major Middle Eastern allied nations as well.
We need every ALPA member to step up and help us in our fight. Here are three actions you can take right now:
If you haven?t already, please join ALPA?s Call to Action opposing the administration?s CBP preclearance facility in Abu Dhabi and leave no doubt that this must be stopped.
Support ALPA-PAC, one of our best tools to help halt this misguided plan on Capitol Hill, where we must take and win this fight.
Visit www.DrawTheLineHere.com to sign a petition urging the White House to end the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility plan. Forward the petition to your family and friends to get them involved.
I will keep you informed of this situation and our efforts as the days and weeks unfold. We will continue to focus on what is best for our airlines and our jobs.
Respectfully,

Capt. Lee Moak

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

www.DRAWTHELINEHERE.com to fight this mess.

 

[Furloughed80]

www.DrawTheLineHere.com

 

[redflyer65]

What are the pros vs. cons here?

I know we have pre-clearance in plenty of other cities as well. Let me hear the arguements..

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Red,

Basically the US Government will primarily fund the construction of this facility and we have NO US carriers serving Abu Dhabi.

Meaning, the Middle East carriers will start plowing passengers into our cities from the pre-clearance facility and that gives them an advantage. Singapore-AbuDhabi-New York means they just preclear and have unfettered access. With lots of A380's coming, they can fly to every major city in North America.

Besides the security argument, why should the US Government buy the Emirates who are fat rich anything? They just bought a Lambo for a police car for Allahs sake.

This stinks of payback for the black ops prisons and interrogations and basing of our extra Flattop jets over the past 15 years.

 

[Varmint]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/w...y-has-beachhead-at-foreign-airports.html?_r=0

Sounds like the US government has also been pushing for pre-clearance of passengers from the middle east in the name of security.

Who is going to win....a bunch of whinny pilots or something that the US government is going to claim is being done in the name of national security.

 

[Golden Falcon]

ALPA has other worries, why go after this??? whose fault is it that US carriers dont fly here??

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

You'll wondering where did my job go when they try to use their money and influence and break down the Cabotage laws and start flying ORD-MIA or even (gasp) Lubbock to Hobby.

This is a threat to us all with low wages, no real work rules, no seniority....that's the way the Middle East Carriers roll.

Lahood spoke at a dinner for the American Arab league last night, so I ask you, who do they work for?

I'd rather be a "whiny" pilot than take this one lying down.

 

[BoilerUP]

Any compelling reason US carriers can't switch from DXB to AUH to take advantage of the CBP pre-screening?

The only current US markets served by Etihad from AUH are ORD and JFK, while Emirates, United & Delta serve DXB to a number of US cities. So why AUH for the CBP facility and not DXB?

 

[Dornier 335]

.....

 

[nwaf16dude]

Any compelling reason US carriers can't switch from DXB to AUH to take advantage of the CBP pre-screening?

The only current US markets served by Etihad from AUH are ORD and JFK, while Emirates, United & Delta serve DXB to a number of US cities. So why AUH for the CBP facility and not DXB?

A couple of factors in play here... Our military presence in the UAE is almost exclusively in Abu Dhabi. Also, most of the oil that remains in the UAE is in Abu Dhabi. They have been very cooperative in the "war on terror." Probably their most influential choice was their decision to make large purchases of US weaponry. Prior to their F-16 purchase, they bought almost exclusively from the French.

Although they are part of the same country, the individual emirate leadership is more influential than the central govt, and the Abu Dhabi leadership is decidedly more pro US than Dubai. In the grand scheme of things, Dubai has plateaued, and Abu Dhabi is on more of an upward arc. The competition between the two is pretty intense.

 

[Furloughed80]

Abu Dhabi will have the first CBP facility; Dubai, Doha, and other cities will follow shortly.

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

Exactly....its a waterfall event. Once one Emirate gets it....they all will!!

This is huge for OUR jobs. Domestic, International, Regional.....we all would be affected by cabotage. This is the nose under the tent and if you dont' think they will use their money to buy further influence? Ask a Canadian about it and the Blackberry censorship issue from 2 years ago.

 

[Flyer1015]

No US airline serves Abu Dhabi. If this facility opens, then the US airlines can/should fly there. So the argument is what, again? That a customs pre-clearance should only be opened in a city served by an USA airline?

 

[Flyer1015]

You'll wondering where did my job go when they try to use their money and influence and break down the Cabotage laws and start flying ORD-MIA or even (gasp) Lubbock to Hobby.

This is a threat to us all with low wages, no real work rules, no seniority....that's the way the Middle East Carriers roll.

Lahood spoke at a dinner for the American Arab league last night, so I ask you, who do they work for?

I'd rather be a "whiny" pilot than take this one lying down.

That's quite a long stretch to go from a customs pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi to Emirates flying from Chicago to Miami. Yet another ALPA-hyped scenario.

 

[8sugarsugar]

I'm curious when this thread will turn into, "Delta is a better job than Emirates, na na na na boo boo"

 

[8sugarsugar]

http://dubaieye1038.com/page/Sir_Maurice_Flanagan_16.04.2013/110821?feed=5

reposting this from PPRUNE

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

That's quite a long stretch to go from a customs pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi to Emirates flying from Chicago to Miami. Yet another ALPA-hyped scenario.

How's that sand taste......whenever you pull your head out, let us know!!!

 

[Jetjockey]

Let's make the discussion about the issue of using US Taxpayer dollars to help a foreign airline that already is heavily subsidized by it's own government.

Why does the US need a pre-clearance facility in UAE?? And since US taxpayer dollars are proposed, does it benefit US jobs? I stand with ALPA, Airlines 4 America, et. al and say NO to the crown prince's wishes. Take your oil money and go build another skyscraper.

 

[General Lee]

How's that sand taste......whenever you pull your head out, let us know!!!

I sort of agree with 1015, but a problem may exist coming up here. A custom clearance in Abu Dhabi wouldn't really affect us, and it certainly doesn't mean cabotage within the US. There aren't enough pilots anywhere in the World to support that type if growth, and pre clearance 14 hours away isn't a huge deal. That affects the European carriers a lot more, with their connections to SE Asia, Australia, and India/Pakistan. That is the only place it affects us, connections to India/Pakistan. Anywhere else, and it is quicker to fly nonstop from the US, not to the ME first. Now, what we do have to see is some protectionism until those carriers can prove that they are playing fair, without the cheap loans, etc. Europe will eventually see that those ME airlines and countries can't offer enough back to keep it a fair trade of slots. Lufthansa can fill one A340 to Dubai per day from connections from Europe, but Emirates can charge less due to cheaper labor, gas, and easy loans from Boeing. Does that sound fair? No wonder France, Germany, and Canada restrict them. They have nothing to trade with. Can you fill multiple widebodies to just Dubai or Abu Dhabi, both hot sandpits? Doubtful. Most of their traffic is transit, and they take away from National airlines like AF, KLM, and Lufthansa. If the ME airlines don't like it, will they stop buying Airbus or Boeing? Too bad, go buy Comac or Antonov widebodies...




Bye Bye---General Lee