Cato: Foreign-Owned Airlines Should Fly U.S. Routes

Blogger Matt Yglesias proposes that in order to promote competition in the airline industry, foreign-owned airlines should be allowed to fly domestic routes here in the United States:

Let foreign airlines fly domestic routes in the United States.

This is one of those ideas that’s so commonsensical, people tend not to realize it isn’t permitted. But if you’re wondering why it is that, say, Emirates will fly you from Los Angeles to Dubai or from Dubai to New York but not from California to the East Coast, that’s the reason. It’s illegal.

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To bolster competition, you need to let foreign airlines actually operate domestic routes.

In theory this might be accomplished through the ongoing negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The main promise of TTIP is to open up new frontiers in cross-border trade beyond the traditional transportation of manufactured goods. And while letting EasyJet or Aer Lingus fly from Seattle to San Antonio isn’t “trade” per se, the case for it is essentially the same general case for trade—American consumers will benefit if we are allowed to purchase from a wider range of options.

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Let any company—regardless of where its headquarters are or who owns it—that’s capable of flying planes safely connect any two American cities, if the company thinks it can make it work.

Read more at http://www.cato.org/blog/foreign-owned-airlines-should-fly-us-routes