Air Canada President and CEO Urges U.S. AirLine CEOs Towards Further Liberalization of U.S.-Canada Market

Robert Milton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada told chief executive officers of the U.S. aviation industry today that the time has come for the United States and Canada to resume efforts to progressively remove all restrictions in order to arrive at a fully liberalized air transport market.

Mr. Milton briefed U.S. airline CEOs on Air Canada's "Open Skies Plus" proposal at an Air Transport Association (ATA) Board of Governors' meeting in Washington. In a December 6 letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta and Canadian Transport Minister Collenette, Air Canada proposed a full Open Skies Agreement between the U.S. and Canada including the exchange of modified sixth freedom opportunities giving both U.S. and Canadian carriers the ability to carry domestic traffic from either country through their respective hubs. To date, the United States has established 'open skies' agreements with over 50 countries, yet the current Canada-U.S. agreement still includes a number of restrictions and is not a full open skies agreement. Mr. Milton told the ATA Board that Air Canada's modified sixth freedom proposal does not create new traffic rights, but rather allows Canadian and U.S. carriers to take full advantage of existing network and hub opportunities and removes restrictions on cargo and third-country rights that were part of the original Air Transport Agreement in 1995.

Mr. Milton urged the ATA Board of Governors to impress upon their government the need to build on the success story of the 1995 Air Transport Agreement, noting that the 1995 agreement has been a resounding success, facilitating major growth in transborder traffic from 13 million passengers in 1994 to over 20 million passengers in 2001.