Indapool
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U. S. Airlines to fly between Canadian cities
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]U.S. airlines in Canada soon, minister says
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says he intends to move "faster than you think" toward a deal with the United States that would allow American airlines to carry passengers between Canadian cities.
Lapierre plans to meet with his U.S. counterpart in about two weeks to kickstart negotiations toward a so-called open-skies treaty with Washington.
The travelling public and opposition politicians seem open to the idea of allowing U.S. airlines to compete with Canadian airlines on routes between Canadian cities, Lapierre said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Current rules permit foreign carriers to fly in and out of Canada but forbid them flying between communities, such as Toronto-Vancouver or Halifax-Montreal.
An open-skies deal would also allow Canadian carriers to fly between American cities.
"I may be moving faster than you think," said Lapierre, who represents a riding in Montreal, home base for Air Canada, the country's biggest airline.
"I have a great opportunity because we're meeting (Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta) . . . in Ottawa," he added.
"At this time, I don't feel any opposition . . . I feel a consensus in the country that we could move."
Mineta is expected in Ottawa on Feb. 24 to speak at a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the current Canada-U.S. air services agreement. He's also scheduled to meet with Lapierre that day.
An open-skies deal that adds price competition could be good news for budget-conscious travellers.
But it's not clear how much progress they'll make since there haven't been any preliminary talks yet on the issue, said an official with the U.S. government.
"How far could we go in opening up our markets to Canada and how far would Canada go to opening up its markets to us?," said the official.
"At this point, we don't know and I don't think Canada knows because we haven't sat down and actually had a negotiation."
The timing also may be difficult. Air Canada only recently emerged from bankruptcy protection.
And industry observers have said the American airline industry — struggling with huge debts, high fuel prices and high labour costs — would oppose giving Canadian competitors full access to their market.
Lapierre first talked about an open-skies treaty last fall, saying he wanted the all-party Commons committee on transport to look into its feasibility.
But the committee didn't bite, said Lapierre.
"If there's no problem, if I can interpret that as a green light, then I'm ready to go."
Lapierre just hasn't been listening to opposition concerns, says New Democrat MP Bev Desjarlais, a longtime member of the transport committee since the tumultuous days when Air Canada first took over Canadian Airlines and its crippling debt.
That contributed to huge financial problems that drove the Montreal-based carrier into bankruptcy protection last year.
"We've been very clear that we are not in favour of open skies," said Desjarlais.
"Open skies will see a situation where we will have less and less service going to small communities," she said.
It would also "destabilize" an already troubled industry throughout North American, she added.
Critics of open skies have argued that Canadian carriers will have trouble competing if large American airlines are permitted to fly within this country.
It's feared they would cherry-pick only the most lucrative popular routes, such as Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal or Toronto-Calgary. Such new competition would hurt domestic carriers, making them even less likely to serve smaller communities into smaller cities that already complain they're already underserved.
Still Air Canada has said it favours open skies, so long as the deal is completely reciprocal, allowing it to fly between big American cities.
"It must be reciprocal or it's totally illogical and will defeat the Canadian industry. Whatever is done here has to be done on both sides of the border," Air Canada President Robert Milton said late last year.[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]U.S. airlines in Canada soon, minister says
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says he intends to move "faster than you think" toward a deal with the United States that would allow American airlines to carry passengers between Canadian cities.
Lapierre plans to meet with his U.S. counterpart in about two weeks to kickstart negotiations toward a so-called open-skies treaty with Washington.
The travelling public and opposition politicians seem open to the idea of allowing U.S. airlines to compete with Canadian airlines on routes between Canadian cities, Lapierre said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Current rules permit foreign carriers to fly in and out of Canada but forbid them flying between communities, such as Toronto-Vancouver or Halifax-Montreal.
An open-skies deal would also allow Canadian carriers to fly between American cities.
"I may be moving faster than you think," said Lapierre, who represents a riding in Montreal, home base for Air Canada, the country's biggest airline.
"I have a great opportunity because we're meeting (Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta) . . . in Ottawa," he added.
"At this time, I don't feel any opposition . . . I feel a consensus in the country that we could move."
Mineta is expected in Ottawa on Feb. 24 to speak at a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the current Canada-U.S. air services agreement. He's also scheduled to meet with Lapierre that day.
An open-skies deal that adds price competition could be good news for budget-conscious travellers.
But it's not clear how much progress they'll make since there haven't been any preliminary talks yet on the issue, said an official with the U.S. government.
"How far could we go in opening up our markets to Canada and how far would Canada go to opening up its markets to us?," said the official.
"At this point, we don't know and I don't think Canada knows because we haven't sat down and actually had a negotiation."
The timing also may be difficult. Air Canada only recently emerged from bankruptcy protection.
And industry observers have said the American airline industry — struggling with huge debts, high fuel prices and high labour costs — would oppose giving Canadian competitors full access to their market.
Lapierre first talked about an open-skies treaty last fall, saying he wanted the all-party Commons committee on transport to look into its feasibility.
But the committee didn't bite, said Lapierre.
"If there's no problem, if I can interpret that as a green light, then I'm ready to go."
Lapierre just hasn't been listening to opposition concerns, says New Democrat MP Bev Desjarlais, a longtime member of the transport committee since the tumultuous days when Air Canada first took over Canadian Airlines and its crippling debt.
That contributed to huge financial problems that drove the Montreal-based carrier into bankruptcy protection last year.
"We've been very clear that we are not in favour of open skies," said Desjarlais.
"Open skies will see a situation where we will have less and less service going to small communities," she said.
It would also "destabilize" an already troubled industry throughout North American, she added.
Critics of open skies have argued that Canadian carriers will have trouble competing if large American airlines are permitted to fly within this country.
It's feared they would cherry-pick only the most lucrative popular routes, such as Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal or Toronto-Calgary. Such new competition would hurt domestic carriers, making them even less likely to serve smaller communities into smaller cities that already complain they're already underserved.
Still Air Canada has said it favours open skies, so long as the deal is completely reciprocal, allowing it to fly between big American cities.
"It must be reciprocal or it's totally illogical and will defeat the Canadian industry. Whatever is done here has to be done on both sides of the border," Air Canada President Robert Milton said late last year.[/font]
