Larry Pressler: “Although this wave of air service liberalization touches France on three of its borders, France stands seemingly…”

“Although this wave of air service liberalization touches France on three of its borders, France stands seemingly oblivious to the competitive air service forces besieging it. The fact of the matter is while its European neighbors are reaching out to embrace the future of global aviation with the enlightened view that the economic benefits of an open skies relationship with the United States are a two-way street, France continues to cling to the past. This choice is not without significant adverse consequences for France's economy. So what precisely is France's air service policy with respect to the United States? It appears that policy can be best described as ``managed stagnation.'' In an attempt to rebalance the market share of state-owned Air France vis-a-vis the highly competitive U.S. carriers, France has made the unfortunate decision to forego the tremendous air service growth other European countries are experiencing in their air service relationships with the United States. Ironically, some of the lucrative new air service opportunities European countries now enjoy are the direct result of traffic that France's restrictive air service policy has driven away to other countries.”