International Aviation: DOT Needs Better Data for Monitoring and Decisionmaking
Highlights
GAO discussed the Department of Transportation's (DOT) efforts to increase the access of U.S. airlines to foreign markets. GAO noted that DOT: (1) policy goals include negotiating with foreign governments to achieve a deregulated airline environment; (2) has not collected or analyzed the information necessary to conduct sufficient economic analyses of proposed changes in the international marketplace; (3) will continue to negotiate bilateral agreements that control U.S. access to foreign markets; (4) has not determined the value of antitrust immunity or whether it should be available for other alliances; and (5) has reached an accord with Canada that greatly increases U.S. airlines' access to the Canadian market, but it faces several challenges in negotiating with nations that are protecting one or two national carriers.