International Aviation

DOT's Efforts to Promote U.S. Air Cargo Carriers' Interests Gao ID: RCED-97-13 October 18, 1996

The value of U.S. exports and imports moving by air totaled $355 billion in 1995, accounting for 27 percent of all U.S. trade. U.S. all-cargo airlines carried about 60 percent of the freight hauled by U.S. airlines. But all-cargo airlines often face obstacles to operating abroad that lessen their efficiency and effectiveness. This report answers the following questions: What are the problems that all-cargo airlines face in doing business overseas, and what steps have the affected airlines and the U.S. government taken to resolve these problems? To what extent has the U.S. government addressed air cargo issues in policymaking and during bilateral aviation negotiations, and what are the possibilities for separating negotiations of air cargo services from broader negotiations that include passenger services?

GAO found that: (1) the 22 U.S. all-cargo airlines responding to a survey reported a range of obstacles to doing business abroad which impair their competitiveness and reported that they experienced significant problems at 81 foreign airports; (2) the most pervasive problems were related to regulation by foreign governments and foreign aviation authorities, with most of these problems occurring at airports in Latin America or the Asia-Pacific region; (3) many of the carriers have attempted to resolve such problems themselves, although some have requested assistance from DOT or State, while others were unaware that assistance was available; (4) U.S. delegations have raised air cargo issues with more than three-quarters of the countries with which they have conducted bilateral talks since 1989; (5) restrictions persist in spite of the resulting expansion of opportunities for U.S. all-cargo carriers; and (6) 13 of the 22 airlines advocate separating negotiations of air-cargo rights from broader negotiations that also address passenger rights, but this approach may not be practical or appropriate on a regular basis.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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