There’s an interesting technicality that has caused the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) to fine Emirates Airline for using Iraq airspace at too low of an altitude.
Continue reading: US Fines Emirates $1.8 Million For Iraq Airspace Violations
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You would be suprised. My boomer parents don't understand code shares or partners. I always have to explain to them just becuase you booked x airline, doesn't mean you are actually flying them.
You don't dig deep enough to point out WHY these tickets need a U.S. carrier flight number, which is because of sham U.S. Government funding rules.
A few years ago I was looking at flights and you could book the Etihad flight from Dulles to Abu Dhabi for $1,200. I could book that exact same flight through American with an American flight number, that was the only difference, and the flight was $1,700. Why would anyone pay the $1,700? The Fly America Act. U.S. Government has rules stating that its employees and the projects it funds have to fly on U.S. carriers unless it's not an option, so the U.S. Government would not allow you to pay $1,200 to fly to Abu Dhabi but would allow you to pay $1,700 because then it is a "U.S. carrier" at that point because of the flight number, giving American Airlines $500 for doing absolutely nothing but existing. This did not give an American carrier any extra business at all, it's just a legal loophole that Congress allows to get around its own rules, at a higher cost to taxpayers.
And that's the rest of the story.
As long as they are flying Delta metal, who cares who the marketing carrier is?
So potentially endangering multitudes of US lives only is worth 1.8 mill USD. What is that fine, 10 bucks per person put in danger?
Shows how much we are valued!
The world's biggest bully has to do what a bully has to do.
Make your own playground rule and execute lunch money extortion.
$1.8M, huh? Probably much less than they spend to monopolize an entire vintage of Le Grande Plonk Chateau Frou-Frou for their first class passengers.
@Andrew gets it -- This kind of issue seems almost exclusive to the traveling public at large who don't know what a codeshare is. On OMAAT it seems rare to come across someone who does not know this stuff but we spend our time understanding this industry -- I'm aware of many occasional flyers who would not realize their flight is a codeshare.
Pretty sure it breaks down to less than $1 per passenger flown to the US, roundtrip. Take a bottle of champagne off every flight and before you know it they'll be right back where they started financially
The fine amount is tiny and irrelevant -- <$1 per passenger flown in 2023 -- so by no means some huge extortion 😉 at such a small amount it seems like DOT just wants to remind Emirates they don't like what Emirates has been up to in general on US flights. Like Emirates would have to cut West Coast flights if they were banned from using Russian airspace but after the Air India Magadan incident it's clear they'd rather Emirates overfly Europe instead on the East Coast rotations -- and looking at EK203/EK237, Emirates oscillates between choosing Europe overflights (e.g. 11-JUN-24 EK203) and Russian ones (e.g. 14-JUN-24 EK203) so this is well within their capabilities. There are numerous other small concerns. Not like Emirates or DOT is significantly sweating this either way
Thats completely unnecessary. I’m pretty sure a bunch of people would miss each and every person on that plane, as would be true for people from any other country. As a whole Americans may be obnoxious at times. But you set a high bar for offensive with that comment.
Airlines set whatever prices they set for codeshares. Government travel is not the reason that codeshares exist. It is accurate that government employees are required to book with us carriers when possible and that foes include codeshares. But the government also negotiates rates for each city pair. So, while the originating carrier may charge $1200 and codeshare is $1700, the government may only be paying $500. And the gov gets two prices, one of which. Is a last seat availability, usually far below the published rates. For example, AA iad-lhr (a BA code share) $310 for all of fy 24
Seems fair in the context that these flights are to be flown under US regulations because of the codeshare agreement and the fact that they were going to the USA, Emirates was also clearly aware of the rule (at least management) by the fact that flight plans were to be above 32,000 feet.
The US funds Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, invaded and destroyed Iraq over a pack of lies two decades ago and never owned up to its laundry list of crimes. Now they are finding airlines for flying too low over a country they spread carnage in ?
Screw them
First the US invades and illegally occupies Iraq on a pack of lies, then it finances aparthed, occupation and genocide against Palestinians. Now it judges Middle Eastern airlines for flying too low over a country it illegally occupied. Scr*w them I say.